Hindsight
by kp1185
Summary: A routine case unexpectedly reunites Kelly with her past in ways she could never have predicted.
1. Chapter 1

**_So since I wrote my first story last year (or something) I have gotten several requests to write an additional story bringing back characters from my version of Kelly's past. And at first I thought hmm...I don't know how that would go since people might be tired of it already. But I thought about it awhile and decided that if I ever ran out of story ideas that I would go ahead and write it._**

**_Well, sadly my well of creativity is only three stories deep. _**

**_But that's ok! Because I'm all about giving the people what they want! (or something)especially when I am out of plots and haven't posted in six months, and so here it is. I hope this is an acceptable continuation of events from my first story, and though I realize it may not exactly be what some of you were expecting, I hope you enjoy it all the same. _**

**_Also my thanks to Ally for her ideas and for naming the damn thing, since I clearly am incapable of doing so on my own :)_**

**_Ok, that's it. Enjoy! And Merry Christmas!_**

**_-kp_**

**_

* * *

_**

Chapter 1

Kelly Garrett unlocked the trunk of her car and immediately jumped backwards as if it had been an electric socket rather than the keyhole she had just stuck her key inside.

The sound of the inner mechanics of the lock clicking free seemed to echo obnoxiously through the quiet streets, surely sending birds scattering, pricking dog's ears, and turning heads within a mile radius of where she was standing. Had the lock always been that loud? She had certainly never realized.

But it was just a normal, everyday sound wasn't it? Surely no ones attention would be caught by hearing a trunk open.

Would it?

She let her watchful eyes scan her surroundings for any potential witnesses to her activities.

Be suspicious just don't look suspicious, she quietly reminded herself.

Under the guise of examining a nick in her paint job, she leaned forward and carefully looked around. The same old view up and down her empty street greeted her, still and quiet in the soft grayish light of early morning. This place should be as familiar with her as she was with it, but there was no telling who could be lurking about, someone who didn't belong spying on her from behind a curtained window or through the leafy branches of one of the many hedges.

One could never be too careful.

Her hands suddenly felt dirty and she absently wiped them on the leg of her jeans. There appeared to be no living creature in the quiet neighborhood save for a stray cat walking leisurely across the top of a neighbor's fence. And unless the mangy orange tabby planned to report her, then it was safe.

Kelly smiled and for the first time since pulling up in her driveway, let herself relax.

Her neighbor's didn't know this side of her.

They saw her as the quiet, single young woman who did some kind of policing job, never caused problems, often baked cookies for the neighborhood kids, and never let her front lawn get overgrown.

The perfect neighbor.

Kelly's smile broadened as she silently swung open the door to her trunk.

Her neighbors could never know this side of her.

It wouldn't do to have them know that their polite, well mannered neighbor who let the neighborhood kids climb in her tree, who, without fail, decorated for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, and who always had a nice thing to say, also had a secret.

No. That wouldn't do at all.

The sound of a car crunching through loose gravel behind her made her whirl around, instinctively blocking the view of her open trunk with her body. How had she let someone sneak up behind her? Her mind frantically tore through a list of excuses and means of escape if it came to it.

But as soon as her eyes focused on the car in question, she relaxed. The five seconds of panic had been unnecessary, she realized as she followed the car up the street with her eyes.

The familiar white Cobra rolled to a stop along the curb of her front lawn and Kelly even sighed in relief.

She had always been a guarded person. Even as a small child, she had learned to hide things, twist and mold herself, pretend to be what people wanted her to be, lock secrets away where no one but her could find them. Sometimes this personality trait hindered relationships. But just as often it was useful.

She was accustomed to this though and took the good with the bad, because this was the way she was and had been for so long that now, even if she wanted to, she couldn't change. Her neighbors probably didn't know this about her, but though she was well liked and friendly, there were only a handful of people she trusted. None of them were part of that handful.

The driver of the Cobra was.

Kelly didn't tell her everything, but there was no reason to put up a guard against her this morning. The contents of her trunk didn't have to be hidden from her.

Because Jill already knew her secret.

Kelly slid her hands into her back pockets and leaned against her car to wait for her best friend. Jill wasn't moving fast enough though, and Kelly quickly became restless. She shuffled her feet anxiously against the smooth concrete of her driveway and couldn't help feeling a bit annoyed. They had to get inside soon before someone noticed.

Wait, was she being silly?

Kelly sighed and forced herself to take a deep breath. It would be fine. She had to stop being so paranoid.

"Hey, Kell!" Jill greeted cheerily. She waved, then skipped around to the back of her car and flung the trunk open with a loud creak.

Kelly winced inwardly and her eyes darted around the neighborhood again, searching for a curious onlooker. Jill was clearly not operating under the same stealthy manner that Kelly had so carefully adopted. Her shuffling feet went still and every muscle tensed. Everyone on the block had to have heard that.

"Is it all in the trunk?" Jill called.

Her voice seemed to echo loudly through the empty street, but Kelly forced herself to relax. It would be fine, right? Jill didn't seem to be worried.

"All here." Kelly answered, patting the trunk of her car.

Jill grinned and then disappeared from sight into the trunk of her car. She popped up a few seconds later with three heavy looking burlap sacks, bulging to capacity from their contents. With a grunt of effort, she hefted them out of the trunk and onto the grass.

As she did, another car turned onto the street, crunching through the loose gravel just as Jill had done minutes earlier. Coincidentally enough, this car was also white.

And blue.

A cop car.

The grin faded from Jill's face and she stepped in front of her heavy bundle and pretended to busy herself looking through the trunk again. Despite herself, Kelly grinned. So it appeared Jill was a little nervous.

Good. That never hurt anybody.

The police cruiser coasted by harmlessly, the driver only turning his head long enough to smile appreciatively at the two good looking women for so considerately standing in his line of vision. As the car disappeared down the next street, Jill closed her trunk and the two girls shared a nervous giggle.

"That was close." Jill whispered. She took a look around and then grabbed up her bags, hoisted them up on her shoulder, and hurried over to where Kelly was standing. "Well?" she asked impatiently. "Did you do it?"

Kelly grinned in response and opened her trunk just enough for Jill to peer inside.

She watched with satisfaction as her blonde friend's eyes seemed to double, then triple in size.

"Oh my God, Kelly!" Jill gasped. She slammed the trunk down and looked around in alarm. "Thank God that cop didn't stop here!"

Kelly shrugged. "I was careful." she replied casually. "Are you gonna help me or not?"

Jill sighed. "Of course I am. Let's get it inside."

She opened the trunk again but paused thoughtfully and then closed it.

"First lets get some bags or something. Your neighbors will call the cops if they see us carrying this around."

Kelly nodded agreeably and reached out to take a bag and lighten Jill's load. "Let's take in your stuff first and we can empty out the bags on the table and use them to bring this mess inside."

Jill made a face. "The table? We have to eat on that later."

"I'll clean it."

"Will this stuff come off?"

"Yes, Jill." Kelly sighed, stepping towards her front door. "Let's hurry. The old lady across the street drinks coffee on her porch and I don't want her to see us."

Jill rolled her eyes and followed.

The two girls made quick work of emptying their sacks out on the table, which proved to be messier than Kelly anticipated. But deciding that it wasn't anything a few spritzes from a bottle of Formula 409 couldn't fix, the girls finished the job and hurried back to Kelly's trunk with three stained but empty sacks.

Kelly opened the trunk, revealing its startling contents again. The two girls stared at it for a moment in awe, seeming to have forgotten how much was in there in the short time it took them to empty Jill's bags. They shared a gleeful look, their eyes twinkling with childish mischief.

"You really went all out, huh?" Jill laughed, giving Kelly a playful shove. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

Kelly could only grin in response.

Sure the various fireworks and rockets had been a little pricey, but she had a feeling it would all be worth it.

Next week was the Fourth of July after all.

But not just any Fourth of July. An event like this only happened once every hundred years and they were lucky enough to have it land during their lifetime. So of course they had to be prepared.

Because next Sunday was July 4, 1976.

The American Bicentennial.

And if that wasnt cause for a hundred years worth of celebrating, then what was?


	2. Chapter 2

**_Hope everyone had a Happy New Year!_**

* * *

Chapter 2

"Oh no. No, Kelly. No, this is not a good idea."

"Why not, Bri?"

Sabrina opened her mouth to respond, but soon realized she had no words. Words couldn't possibly make it more obvious. Hell, neon signs couldn't make it more obvious. Instead, she threw her hands up in the air and took a few steps back, as if Kelly's lunacy was contagious. Craziness was definitely not what she'd expected to find on the menu when she was invited over for breakfast thirty minutes ago.

"Kelly! You-you are going to blow up the neighborhood!" she managed finally. The back door swung open before Kelly could respond and, to Sabrina's immense relief, Jill flounced into the kitchen shouldering a heavy looking paper sack.

"Jill!" Sabrina cried, shooting her friend a pleading look. "Jill, God help us all, you're the voice of reason here! Talk some sense into her!"

Instead of immediately snatching the dangerous fireworks from Kelly's grip, Jill giggled and pushed aside some rockets to set her bag on the table. "C'mon, Bri." she said cheerfully, taking the coffee mug from her friend's hands. "What's wrong with a little fireworks for the occasion?"

Sabrina's eyes widened in disbelief. "A little-?" she sputtered. She waved her arms at the kitchen table, indicating the enormous spread of brightly colored fireworks and various explosives of all shapes and sizes Kelly had laid out. "Jill, she has an arsenal!"

"It's the bicenntenial!" Kelly protested. "This is a once in a lifetime thing! The next time this happens will be in 2076! We won't be alive!"

"Hey, how do you know we won't if you kill me with those things today? At least give me a chance to live long enough to find out!" Sabrina cried. When Kelly's grin didn't falter, she whirled around and took Jill by both shoulders.

"Jill, tell her!" she pleaded.

Jill giggled and squirmed out of Sabrina's grip. With her best friend watching intently, she shook open the paper sack she had carried over and emptied its contents out onto the kitchen table. Sabrina's mouth fell open. Mingling with Kelly's ammo, was Jill's very own arsenal, bigger, more expensive and dwarfing everything else on the table like they were toys.

"Where did you two get this?" Sabrina stammered after finding her voice. "You're going to-"

"Have a great time." Kelly cut her off. She grinned and clapped Sabrina playfully on the shoulder. "C'mon, Bri. Live a little."

Sabrina's shoulders slumped with a weary sigh. "I want to. I really do." she said weakly, eyeing the explosive laden table with obvious discomfort. "I want to live a lot. And that's why I think I should make a citizens arrest here."

Jill laughed and slung a friendly arm around Sabrina's shoulder. "Oh relax!" she giggled. "They're fireworks, not nuclear weapons. We know what we're doing."

"Yeah, Bri." Kelly cut in, draping an arm over her other shoulder. "It'll be fun!"

"Blowing things up is fun?" Sabrina questioned, obvious unease in her voice.

Kelly shrugged. "I don't know, I've never done it before." she answered honestly. "But hey, it's 1976! Our nation's two hundredth birthday! Now is as good a time as ever!"

Sabrina shook her head and laughed. "You've never done this before?" she echoed. "Kelly, there's something wrong with you."

"I know." Kelly relented with an exaggerated sigh. She caught Jill's eye and the two grinned widely, eyes twinkling with mischief. With a firm grip on their friend's shoulders, the two girls began leading Sabrina towards the front door.

"We've got a lot to do to get ready for our party." Jill sang.

Sabrina warily tilted her head towards her. "I thought we were gonna watch the Bob Hope special and see the fireworks downtown." she responded nervously. "What do we have to get rea-"

"I mean after that, silly!" Jill cut her off. "We can't let Kelly go unprepared for our little after party, now can we?"

"That's right." Kelly agreed sincerely. "I can't be unprepared, Bri."

"It would be simply un-American." Jill added. "She owes it to all those brave soldiers who fought for our independence to be prepared."

Sabrina immediately halted their forward motion by latching onto the door frame with one hand. "Whoa, whoa! Wait, prepared for what? For your explosive mayhem?"

Kelly and Jill nodded

"Hold on, now." Sabrina choked, wiggling out of her friend's grip. "You want to go set off some of these things? Is that where you're trying to drag me off to?"

Jill flashed a gleaming white smile in her direction. "Well, yeah!" she laughed. "C'mon, Bri! It'll be fun. You look tense, you can blow off some steam."

"Or both my thumbs." Sabrina muttered back. She sighed wearily and glanced at the loaded table that they were leaving behind. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Nope!" Jill sang happily. "We left some in the car."

Sabrina's surprised gaze fell back on the brightly colored fireworks laying on the table. It was a miracle Kelly's kitchen table, which had tilted over and nearly ruined a Christmas Eve dinner the year before, was holding them all. And that wasn't even all of it.

But she had no one to blame but herself. Those two should never have been left unattended. God knew how much Jill and Kelly had piled into their cars.

The country might not live to see another birthday.

* * *

"Ok, four or five and let's get out of here."

Jill shut off the engine of her car and caught Kelly's twinkling eyes in the rearview mirror. Her friend was probably in pain holding back laughter and the sight of it made Jill immediately look away to keep face.

"Sure, Bri." she said happily. "Four or five tops."

"There were only four Tops, Jill." Kelly piped up from the back.

Jill shoved her playfully, and the two burst into a fit of giggles. Their disturbingly over excited tones by no means went unnoticed. Sabrina groaned unhappily and let her head thump against the window, eliciting another giggle from both Kelly and Jill.

"Ok, my will has already been made out." Sabrina sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

Jill laughed as the girls climbed out of the car. "Are we in it?" she teased.

Sabrina glared at her. "Not anymore."

"Oh come on." Kelly laughed, taking Sabrina's arm. "We're not stupid. We'll be careful, Bri. You'll see, it'll be fun."

Sabrina mumbled a response, but begrudgingly followed her friends around to the trunk. With a flourish, Jill swung it open and for the third time, her and Kelly marveled at their hard earned stash.

"So what?-" Sabrina asked, an air of dread in her voice. "- just set them all off?"

Kelly smiled and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Not all of them, Bri." she giggled. "Then we won't have any left for the Fourth and that's the whole point."

"Yeah." Jill agreed. "We just wanna see what each one does so we can plan out what we're gonna do."

"You need a plan for this?"

"'Course we do. We gotta save the best one for last."

Sabrina sighed and pulled open one of the bags. "Ok, fine." she relented. "Let's start with this bag."

Jill flashed a dazzling white smile and playfully clapped Sabrina across the back, sending her sprawling onto the bags of explosives in the trunk. "Hey, that's the spirit of seventy six I've been looking for!" she teased.

Grumbling to herself, Sabrina helped her two friends choose explosive representatives from each of the sacks they had brought. When they gathered a sizeable armful, the girls closed the trunk and lugged their cargo as far away from the car as space would allow and then, once a decent distance away from the highway and any prying eyes, carefully deposited their stash on the soft green grass of the clearing they had managed to sneak onto.

"Ok, we have to do this systematically." Jill ordered, dropping to a crouch by the pile. "Start with the smallest and work our way up." She let her hand hover slowly over their rockets in considerate deliberation until finally selecting a small, orange cylinder with a blue and white wrapper. She rose to her feet and held it out reverently to Sabrina. "Here. You can do the honors."

Sabrina reluctantly accepted it, holding the little rocket by two fingers as if it were dirty laundry.

"Ok." she sighed with obvious distaste. "Let's do this."

Jill and Kelly shared a knowing look and excitedly pushed her forward. Kelly dug a lighter out of her pocket and with a flick of her thumb, produced a quivering little flame.

"It probably won't be very big, but you'll want to stay as far away from it as possible." Jill warned, as she scuffed back a small area of grass with her foot and exposed the dirt below.

Sabrina cast a sideways glare at her and pulled Kelly's arm closer for better access to the flickering little light.

"Really, Jill?" she said sarcastically. "I'll want to stay away? Not put it in my mouth?" Muttering and shaking her head, she straightened the inch long fuse between her thumb and forefinger and deftly stuck it towards Kelly's light. "I'm not stupid. I've done this before, you know. But I was twelve and not an adult who works side by side with the police. Did you two even th-"

She had much more grumbling to do, but the fuse chose that moment to light, sending the flame rapidly through the length of it and towards the rocket with a steady hiss. With Jill and Kelly squealing in delight by her side, Sabrina waited a few more tense seconds and just as the little spark was reaching the rocket, gently tossed it forward.

All three girls shrieked in surprise at the deafening and extremely unexpected explosion that followed an instant later.

"Whoa!" Sabrina cried, wind milling her arms to keep her balance. Her eyes found and then widened at the two foot diameter hole that had been blasted into the grass by the deceptively small little rocket.

"I thought you said that was the smallest!" Sabrina squeaked, giving Jill's shoulder a shove.

Jill only started laughing in disbelief. "It was! You saw it!" she protested. "I guess you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, huh?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes and shook her head sadly.

"So those orange ones should go towards the end then." Kelly mused as she jotted down a note in the little pad of paper she'd brought along. Sabrina saw her and groaned.

"You're taking notes?" she asked in bewilderment. "You? Who never took notes in school? This is what you take notes on?"

Kelly grinned and shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say? I pick and choose my interests."

The next hour consisted of excited shrieking, giggling, and the frequent pop or high pitched wail of the various roman candles, bottle rockets, and firework selections they had brought. By the time the pile had dwindled down to only a few rockets, all the girls, even Sabrina, were feeling light hearted and filled with child like glee and enthusiasm. Of the rockets yet to set off, there were three of varying sizes. Two skinny green tubes and a large red monstrosity which the girls had decided in an unspoken agreement should be saved for the very last.

But neither Kelly's patience or her deprived inner child could wait that long.

Sabrina and Jill were busily unwrapping one of the green tubes, and hoping to give her friends a good surprise, Kelly snickered to herself and scooped up the big heavy rocket in her arms. She crouched down and secured it firmly in the dirt Jill had kicked up earlier and quietly pulled her lighter out of her pocket.

Tingling and giddy with anticipation, she lit the lengthy fuse and quickly backed away and covered her ears.

The spark instantly ate up the fuse with a slight hiss just as she expected it to.

But something wasn't right. The rocket was leaning slightly to the left.

That wouldn't do at all.

Abandoning all logic, Kelly lunged forward and reached out a hand to straighten the shiny red tube. Just a little, she thought to herself as she did. It would be worth it. The scream it would let out as it launched into the sky. The brilliant spray of colorful sparks it would let out would be completely worth it. Caught up in childish excitement, she wasn't aware that the fuse was burning dangerously short already, the spark rapidly approaching the base of the rocket much more urgently than she thought.

"What the hell is wrong with you?"

Kelly jerked in surprise as a strong hand shot out and roughly yanked back her arm. The long fingers slapped against her forearm, dug painfully into her wrist bone, and because she was powerless to stop it, forcefully wrenched her backwards and sent her toppling to her side. It was all there. The slight knick of a fingernail grazing her skin, the familiar tug in her shoulder socket, the split second jolt of pain that shot through her elbow before she instinctively twisted around to avoid injury.

Kelly suddenly broke out into a cold sweat. Her stomach flipped, her heart hammered in her chest, adrenaline screaming at her to run, to duck, to hide her face.

It had happened so fast, startling her with its unexpected violence.

Just as it always had.

And though it had been over ten years, the fear returned. The fear of what always happened immediately after.

Without thinking, Kelly angrily yanked her arm out of his clutches and whirled around to face him, eyes blazing in murderous fury. She wasn't weak. Not anymore. No one could do that to her anymore.

"Are you crazy? You're gonna blow off your ar-!"

The imminent explosion chose that moment to cut her off, just as loud and impressive as Kelly hoped it would have been. Sabrina shrieked excitedly, but Kelly remained frozen, oblivious to the noise, confusion washing away the sudden rage just as quickly as it came. It was Sabrina standing in front of her. Not him. Just Sabrina. Her best friend Sabrina.

A loud pop sounded high above them, followed by the rushing crackle of the no doubt beautiful display of colorful streams of fire that the rocket had created. Sabrina glanced up in appreciative wonder at it.

Kelly hadn't noticed at all.

"I just saved you from being a southpaw for the rest of your life!" Sabrina laughed once the firework had faded to hazy smoke in the sky. She grinned happily and ruffled her friend's hair. "You owe me dinner."

Before Kelly was expected to respond, Jill let out a loud shriek and tumbled out of her lawn chair with a crash. Sabrina's head whipped around to the ruckus and without wasting another second, sprinted off towards her.

Kelly stayed behind, shock keeping her feet firmly planted to the ground.

Jill and Sabrina scrambled around several feet away, shrieking with laughter and trying to rid Jill's sleeve of the rocket that had tumbled inside it.

Kelly looked on, seeing but not seeing them.

The little green rocket was safely flung away before too long and her two friends giggled uncontrollably at the fact that it had not even been lit. But Kelly wasn't paying attention anymore. Her gaze had traveled to her arm, at the slight white mark on her skin left by Sabrina's fingernail.

It didn't hurt. Probably never had.

She rubbed it anyway.

Sabrina hadn't been angry. Wasn't trying to hurt her. She had been trying to protect her, had protected her, had even laughed and cracked a joke.

So why had it caused such an extreme flash of anger? Taken her back to that place? Made her, within a split second, feel the overpowering terror, dread, and then rage? Old but powerful feelings, all from her dark and distant past.

Kelly swallowed hard and pushed the memories away. Thanks to Jill's anticsl, Sabrina hadn't noticed her momentary loss of control and she was grateful for that. How could one explain such an extreme reaction without revealing its cause? And why, over ten years later, she was still struggling with the aftermath.

No, that was a conversation she didn't want to have.

Mentally shrugging it off, she plastered a grin on her face and jogged over to where her two friends were laying giggling and panting in the grass. Jill looked up at her as she approached, her face bright red from laughing and hair littered with grass.

"Kelly!" she gasped. "Kelly- did you- did you see that?"

Still sporting her false grin, Kelly dropped down to a crouch next to them. "If I had missed it, I would have kicked myself." she teased. "How did you manage to do that?"

"I don't know!" Jill giggled. "I was trying to light it and it slipped out of my hands!"

Sabrina propped herself up on her elbows and poked at Jill's sides, sending her curling into a ball in a giggling ticklish frenzy.

"You two were not meant to be around this stuff." Sabrina laughed. She stopped tickling Jill, who by now was completely breathless, and sat up.

"Do you have this out of your system yet?" she asked with a grin as she smoothed back her disheveled hair.

Jill sucked in a few breaths and pushed herself up. "Yes!" she panted. "I think so."

Sabrina smiled and plucked a weed from Jill's mussed hair. "Good." she said. "I can't work alone. It would be boring." She pulled Jill to her feet and the two brushed themselves off while Kelly smiled after them in silence.

"So we can go home now?" Sabrina asked. "You're done with this?"

Jill caught Kelly's eye and then flashed Sabrina a gleaming white smile. "For now." she teased.

Sabrina stopped mid stride and tilted her head in wonder. "What do you mean for now?" she asked.

Jill and Kelly grinned at each other and pulled her along.

"I mean for today." Jill answered brightly. "Kelly just needed some practice, we can have the real party during the fourth."

"Exactly." Kelly chimed in, not a trace of the discomfort she felt in her voice. "This was just practice."

Sabrina groaned and shoved them both lightly. "You're pushing your luck, you two." She looked over at the singed tufts of grass where her first rocket had exploded an hour earlier. "Besides, I think any more practice will kill her."

Kelly felt sick, could feel beads of cold sweat on her forehead and the small of her back. Her heart was racing and her stomach fluttering with dread that was so displaced in the otherwise cheerful and lighthearted atmosphere. So, she surprised herself when a light hearted and natural sounding giggle climbed its way up her throat.

Pretending had just become second nature.

"What doesn't kill me only makes me stronger, right?" Kelly replied with a big haughty grin.

Jill laughed, Sabrina rolled her eyes, and the girls made their way back to Jill's car, indulging in random chatter as they did. Kelly kept up the conversation though she was half listening and had no interest in it.

It was so easy to fool them. So easy to fool everyone.

She took a deep breath and forcibly pushed the horrible memories away. As she did, a brief wave of anger and resentment flashed its way through her at the very thought of them.

They had no business here with her and her friends. Especially in the midst of such a happy outing. She gritted her teeth and, as she had done before, buried them deep within the recesses of her memory. Once there, she wouldn't give them another thought and they would fade back into the hell that had created them and leave her alone. That was where they belonged.

Because that was a long time ago and there was no room in her life for them anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"_Put your hands down."_

_Kelly backed into the wall of the upstairs hallway, her trembling hands still raised to shield her turned face. _"_No- please, I'm sorry." she whimpered pitifully. "Please, sir, I-"_

_James Hanover swung the heavy leather belt hard at her, the stinging blow simultaneously catching her shoulder and left forearm. She squealed in pain and tried desperately to scramble away, pressing herself flat against the wall in the vain hope she'd somehow disappear inside of it. But, despite her efforts, there was no way around him. There never was._

"_Put your goddamn hands down!" he bellowed at her again, slapping the belt against the wall beside her. "Put them down!"_

_As if it had to be in constant motion, the belt flew at her a second time, stinging her already welted left forearm and licking around the back of her neck. She let out another strangled yelp._

"_Ok!" she gasped, cringing against the corner. "Ok, I'm sorry!"_

"_Now!" _

_He cracked the belt, flicked his wrist and let the worn leather whistle through the air and snap right next to her ear. Kelly flinched in response. The threat was more than clear. She swallowed hard and slowly lowered her hands, revealing a pale, wide eyed and frightened young face._

"_Please don't-" she pleaded feebly. _

_As usual, her pleas for mercy fell on deaf ears. James Hanover's arm twitched with the beginnings of movement and both of Kelly's hands instinctively flew up to her face again. He scowled at her lack of cooperation and heaved an irritated sigh._

"_Kelly_, e_ither put your goddamn hands down or I'm going to break both of your arms." he said calmly. "It's up to you."_

_The girl considered his warning silently, save her ragged breathing, and watched him fearfully from between the gaps of her fingers. It would be foolish to doubt his threats and all he needed was more reasons to strike. Knowing better than to test him, she took a deep breath and braced herself. This would hurt, but delaying it would only make him angrier and the pain much, much worse. She shut her eyes tight and let her arms flop to her sides in defeat._

_He spared her any additional waiting. The blow came immediately afterwards, an open palm so large it covered the entirety of the left side of her face. Her head rocked to the side, she toppled off balance and went careening into the wall with such force she thought she might black out. Her right cheekbone struck first, solidly and loudly, absorbing the entire impact as if seeking equality for the pain the left side of her face had just endured. _

_His heavy handed slap had hurt, but the wall hurt infinitely more. Kelly bounced off of it with a shriek of pain and curled up into a ball, her eyes watering, her head spinning._

_Hanover stood over her quivering form, bathing her in his ominous shadow, his presence more than enough to ensure she didn't dare look back up at him. He let her cower in anticipation for a moment and then shoved her roughly with one foot._

"_There. __You see what happens when you smart off to me?" he asked, an air of satisfaction in his tone. A judge trying and sentencing a convicted criminal._

_Kelly quickly nodded her head, still not daring to look up._

"_Answer me."_

"_Y-yes." she whimpered softly._

_The hopeful air of reprieve had filled the space between them after the painful slap. Hanover had gotten his blows in, his vicious mood seemed to fade as it usually did just before he released her, and the belt was being slowly wrapped around his knuckles, blessedly ready to put to rest. But what she thought was the finale to her terrorizing proved to be a cruel misinterpretation of her foster father's intentions. Instead of finishing its final loop around the hand carrying it, the thick belt unexpectedly whipped forward and splatted painfully between her shoulder blades, eliciting a terrified scream from the girl._

"_That's not how you answer me!" Hanover shouted angrily, his explosive temper blasting to the surface again ._

"_Yes, sir!" Kelly wailed her frantic correction. "Yes, sir, I'm sorry!"_

_Hanover clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "How many times do I have to teach you?" he asked in exasperation. "Are you really that slow?"_

_When she didn't answer, he again lashed out with the belt. Kelly bravely bit back another scream and a thin line of blood appeared tracing a welt on her arm. "I'm asking you a goddamn question!" he shouted. He struck her again and a matching red line crossed the first. "When I ask you a question, you answer it! Is that too hard to understand?"_

"_No, sir." Kelly choked, panting loudly._

_Hanover waited for a few seconds and then heaved an irritated sigh. "So answer my goddamn question, girl."_

_Kelly looked up briefly, revealing a bleeding lower lip, red face and the beginnings of a nasty bruise on her right cheek. Her green eyes slowly widened in horror. In her terrified and flustered state of mind, she had already forgotten the question he had asked._

"_I-I- don't remember-" she sputtered, her heart pounding, panic edging its way into her voice. "Please- I just-"_

_Hanover drew back his arm and flung the belt at her with a furious curse. The heavy metal buckle glanced off of her knuckles with a crack, enough to make her hand go numb, and then flopped into her lap. She hissed in pain and shook out her fingers, not daring to take her eyes off of her foster father for even a quick look at her injured hand. _

_Hanover appeared irritated, and ran a hand through his hair as if frustrated beyond belief. "I don't remember!" he echoed in a cruel mocking imitation of her high pitched little girl voice. _"_Christ, I can't believe you." he sighed heavily. His shook his head and his dark eyes looked down at her in disgust. "Completely useless."_

_Kelly swallowed hard and quickly nodded her head in agreement, anything to pacify him, anything to make him stop hitting her and let her go to bed._

"_Give that to me." he snapped, waving his hand at the belt in her lap. Though part of her wanted to refuse, to sit on it or hang onto his pain inflicting weapon, she knew that would be suicide. She plucked it out of her lap by the solid metal buckle that had just injured her hand and held it out to him. He snatched it from her immediately and raised himself to his full towering height._

"_Get up!" he snarled at her._

_She quickly obeyed, her hands at her side, tensed and ready to protect herself if need be. Instead, Hanover looked her up and down, taking in her bleeding face, welted arms and trembling legs._

"_Are you just gonna stand there and look at me all night?" he asked her suddenly._

_Kelly swallowed, wondering what he wanted her answer to be. There was a script in his head, that much she knew, and she'd have to guess at her part or be severely punished. She shifted uneasily in place, hoping he would further explain his question. _"_I- I- don't-" she stammered uncertainly, stalling for a few more precious pain-free moments. Her distrusting gaze rested on the belt held loosely in his fist, wondering if it would hit her again._

_Hanover muttered to himself and rolled his eyes to the ceiling, begging for patience, before looking back down at her. "Get out of my sight." he said, slowing his voice as if explaining a difficult concept._

_Kelly swallowed. "I- I can go?" she asked meekly._

"_Didn't I just tell you to get out of my sight?" Hanover snapped. _

_Eager to get away, but not foolish enough to run off without double checking the safety of her decision, Kelly nodded her head._

_Hanover snorted in response. "So what the hell does that mean, stupid?" he asked, his patience waning. "Do I have to explain?"_

_Kelly's eyes once again found his belt and she quickly decided t__hat was as much confirmation as she needed. She lowered her head and slowly slipped past him, careful not to brush against his body as she slinked down the hallway to her bedroom. __Tonight's terrorizing, for the second time, appeared to be over._

_So, she shrieked in surprise when a big rough hand dug into her shoulder and spun her around a scant few feet away from her open door._

"_What the hell is wrong with you?" Hanover yelled disbelievingly. "__You just turn around and walk away from me without a word? That's the respect you show me?"_

_Kelly's stomach gave a sickening lurch, feeling herself tumbling back into the pit she had just thought herself freed from. Why had she just walked away? Why was she that stupid, she had been so close, her mind screamed angrily at her. _

"_No, sir-" Kelly stammered. "I didn't mean to. I thought you w-"_

_He cut her off with a solid pop to the mouth. Kelly stumbled backwards, drawing her numb bottom lip into her mouth with her tongue. It hadn't hurt as badly as before, but she stopped talking. Why was she so foolish to think he'd let her go so easily after having been so angry? He was toying with her, flaunting his power, dangling escape in front of her face and laughing every time she reached for it. She'd been so stupid to turn her back to him and walk right into his trap._

"_Rude, ungrateful little freeloader." Hanover growled. He gave her a one handed shove, his half hearted effort more than enough to send Kelly's skinny malnourished little body thudding into the closet door. The small of her back struck the doorknob hard, rattling the flimsy wooden door and sending her bouncing off with a cry of pain. She lost the brief struggle for her balance and tumbled to the floor._

_Hanover laughed at her clumsiness. "Goddamned idiot." he chuckled to himself._

_Kelly quickly popped to her feet, her back still throbbing painfully and her face twisted into a grimace to show it. Her eyes darted to the door and upon discovering what had hurt so much, she shuffled immediately to the other side of the hallway._

_Her nervous action didn't go unnoticed._

"_You're afraid of closets, aren't you?" Hanover asked, a grin still on his face. "Are you claustrophobic, Kelly?"_

_Kelly rubbed her back with one hand and stared at him, uneasiness slowly creeping through her at the startingly perceptive accusation. She didn't know what "claustrophobic" meant or whether she wanted to be whatever that was or not, and that greatly complicated deciding on an answer. __But, she was wasting time she didn't have. After a beat of silence, Hanover raised a hand to strike her, making the girl flinch. "Answer me!" he demanded loudly._

"_No, sir." Kelly lied. _

_His threatening sneer melted into a grin. "Oh, bullshit. Yes you are. I see you. You reach in instead of stepping inside, you keep one hand on the door to keep it open." he insisted. His grin widened. "Why are you afraid of the closet? How old are you?"_

"_Twelve, sir." Kelly answered warily. There was something planning in his head. Something bad and every muscle in her body tensed in dread._

_Hanover smirked at her and casually strolled up to the closet door and opened it. It was tiny. A few coats hung along the rack and a suitcase and old pair of shoes were strewn on the floor. Hanover looked inside, then back up at Kelly. The girl's heart was racing now, bordering on panic._

"_I think you'll be out of my sight if you were in there." Hanover said thoughtfully. "What do you think?"_

_Kelly unconsciously backed away until her sore back was pressed against the opposite wall. If she said yes, he would throw her in there, in the dark, all alone, trapped in the cramped and tiny space for who knew how long. __She started to sweat, her body already prematurely showing the terrifying symptoms of claustrophobic anxiety. The closet was even smaller than the one Beemish used to lock her in. Her chest began to heave, and experience told her right away that her fear had just damned her._

"_Answer me." Hanover threatened._

_Kelly swallowed. "No, sir." she panted, shaking her head frantically._

_Hanover raised an eyebrow. "No?" he repeated, glancing at the closet door. "That doesn't make any sense, Kelly." He rapped on the closet door, making the trembling girl jump. "I don't think I'll have to look at you if you're in here. I can't see through a door."_

_Despite every instinct telling her not to cry, her green eyes welled up with frightened tears. _"_Please don't." she whispered desperately. "I'm sorry, I'll never smart off again, I promise."_

_Hanover's grin only widened further. He had won. Broken her. Her tears were like glistening little trophies. "How do I know that?" he taunted her. "I think I have to teach you a lesson."_

"_No." Kelly pleaded, shaking her head. Her eyes filled and a few tears overflowed down her cheeks. "I'll be good. I'm sorry, I'm sorry- please don't'"_

"_Get inside." Hanover ordered, opening the door wide._

_Kelly shook her head violently, her entire body now starting to shake in terror. She gasped for breath after breath. Her chest already felt tight._

_Hanover blinked his disbelief at her blatant refusal. "Don't tell me no. I said get inside." he ordered threateningly._

_Again Kelly shook her head and pressed herself against the wall, trying in vain to hide. Hanover, with no patience left, reached forward and snatched her wrist to drag her inside._

_But the little girl panicked. _

_Thinking only of escaping the closet, Kelly ripped her arm away from Hanover and bolted, tearing down the hallway as if there were anywhere else she could go to escape. She had almost made it to her bedroom when his strong hand closed on a fistful of her long brown hair._

_Her head snapped back with a forceful yank, and hurling angry curses and insults at her, Hanover roughly dragged her back down the hallway._

"_No!" Kelly screamed, wildly flailing her arms at him. "No! No, don't! Please, please! I'm sorry!"_

_Her fingers grasped uselessly at the walls, the carpet, the doorframes. But nothing could save her. There was the closet, cramped and tiny, its cold, dark depths awaiting her. Tears streamed freely down her face, blurring the image of the dreaded closet door._

_She kicked and thrashed frantically, screaming at the top of her lungs, but Hanover clamped one big hand over her mouth, dragged her to the open door, and forced her inside._

_Kelly grappled desperately at the door frame, clinging to it for dear life. Her little hands were like glue, sticking to every surface, crazed and frantic for escape. Anything to pull her out of her 2x2 hell. But her torturer was much too strong. He easily pushed her inside._

"_No!" she begged, slamming one hand firmly onto the doorframe. Her last chance. Her last opportunity to hoist herself out._

_Hanover smiled and simply swung the door closed in her face. _

_It cracked loudly against the fingers of her left hand and bounced right open again. But Kelly was unable to take advantage. With a pitiful howl of pain, she fell back through the hanging coats against the closet wall, taking her offending hand with her. Her fingertips seared with unbearable pain, the sensitive flesh throbbing like it would explode._

"_Your own goddamned fault." Hanover told her matter-of-factly._

_Kelly glanced up at him, another plea for mercy ready on her lips, just as her prison was robbed of light. The door slammed, leaving her trapped and all alone, left to suffocate. And the effects began immediately. There was no air. How could there be? The space was too small. Much too small._

_

* * *

_

Kelly bolted upright with a strangled cry. It was so dark, so cold. She frantically kicked her blankets away, even their slight weight restraining to her. Her eyes darted around the room in terror, the line between dream and reality still frighteningly blurred in her still sleep clouded mind.

There was her bed. Her dresser. Her window that overlooked the front lawn.

The opposite wall a safe distance away.

Her bedroom. She was in her bedroom, she realized.

Slowly she relaxed. It had been a nightmare. One formed out of a horrible memory, but one that couldn't hurt her anymore.

Just a nightmare. A harmless nightmare.

Kelly let out a slow, shaky breath and nervously rubbed her face. Cold sweat greeted her hand and she wiped it away against her nightgown.

"Jesus." she sighed to herself. She looked up and caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror over her dresser. Her pale face stared back at her, shadowed by the dim moonlight streaming through the gaps in the curtain. An adult face. Not a little girl anymore. Young, but that of a grown woman.

Kelly sighed and laid her head back down on her clammy pillow. It had been over ten years since she suffered at the hands of the Hanovers, but whatever emotional damage had been caused in her year with them was apparently irreversible. The nightmares had been all too frequent up until a few years ago when life had taken a drastic turn for the better. She finally straightened herself out in the police academy and found the acceptance, friendship, and love she had longed for her entire life in her best friends Jill and Sabrina. A lifelong outcast, she had been amazed at how easily she had fit in with them, completely natural and seamless, as if that's where she had always belonged. They had helped her so much, taught her how to socialize, dragged her out of her shell.

That had been three years ago, however, and though she was happy with her life now, the nightmares remained. Nowhere near as often, but still there. Her secret nighttime visitor, a constant reminder of where she had come from.

Kelly lay quietly in bed. The tight constricting feeling in her chest brought on by the bad dream hadn't completely faded yet. She couldn't remember a time where enclosed spaces didn't send her into a panic and though she knew it hadn't started at the Hanover's home, they had certainly taken advantage of it.

She shuddered and tried to push away the painful, frightening memories. Her eyes drifted towards her bedside clock, revealing that it was just past two thirty in the morning. She groaned to herself and punched her pillow into a more comfortable shape. It didn't help very much. They needed replacing. She sighed and closed her eyes.

If she could manage to fall back to sleep within the hour, she would be well rested for tomorrow.

The three of them had been on a vacation of sorts for the past few weeks. Their previous case was wrapped up, the paperwork was done, and Charlie had yet to bring them anything new. They'd been making good use of this rare stretch of free time though, and had easily gotten used to the carefree lifestyle their career could sometimes grant. The much anticipated Bicenntenial was almost upon them and, accustomed to their empty schedules, a party had been planned.

Almost as if he had planned it however, Bosley had shattered the illusion and called the moment they'd returned from their firework testing excursion to tell them about a new client they were to meet tomorrow morning. He had been vague with the details, as usual, preferring to let Charlie and the client do most of the informing. Kelly didn't mind. Meeting clients without knowing very much background on them allowed her to form judgments herself immediately upon meeting them. And her judgments were usually very accurate.

A car horn sounded outside her window and Kelly jumped involuntarily.

Annoyed that she was still so anxious after the dream, she punched her pillow again and forced herself to settle down. This ridiculous Hanover nonsense that had dredged itself up out of the blue needed to stop. It was unwelcome, unwanted and completely unecessary.

After their adventurous morning and Bosley's call, Sabrina and Jill lounged around her house for the rest of the afternoon, until Jill excused herself to get ready for a much anticipated date with a man she'd met the previous week. Sabrina lingered on the rest of evening, leaving only a few hours before Kelly climbed into bed, carefree and happy from a lazy day with friends, the incident of that morning seemingly faded back into obscurity.

The lightheartedness had been deceptive, however. Her bad memories seldom stayed where they belonged, preferring to resurface at random and often inconvenient times.

Kelly was suddenly acutely aware of being all alone in her house and briefly wished she had asked Sabrina to stay the night. Afterwards, she groaned in disgust at the temporary bout of weakness. She wasn't a baby, she didn't need a babysitter, she berated herself sternly.

Irritated with herself, she closed her eyes and sighed.

Tomorrow would be busy and she didn't have time to be slowed down by ridiculous fears of a time long past.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"No, I didn't!" Jill squealed, her blue eyes shining with laughter. She snatched up and swung a nearby couch cushion into Sabrina's shoulder. "It was one of the worst dates I've ever been on!"

Sabrina deflected the plushy blow with one hand and laughed. "Oh, come off it!" she teased. "I called at ten thirty on my way home to see if you were there so I could pick up my punch bowl." She leaned in close, cupping her hand around her mouth as if sharing a secret. "And guess what? You weren't."

"I was in bed by ten!" Jill cried, striking again with the pillow.

"Yeah, sure." Sabrina responded. She paused for a beat, suddenly thoughtful, and narrowed her brown eyes suspiciously. "Wait. Who's bed now?"

"Mine!"

The big playful grin on Sabrina's face widened. How easy it was to rile Jill up. How wonderfully easy.

"Oh, so you were busy." she said slowly. "That explains why you didn't hear the phone." Immediately after her delivery, she jumped up from her spot in anticipation of Jill's expected retaliation. She wasn't nearly quick enough, however. With a cry of mock outrage, Jill pounced on her and began mercilessly pounding her with her cushion.

"Take that back!" she laughed.

Sabrina, incapacitated by a fit of giggles, could only shield her face and endure the soft blows. "I will not!"

"Take it back or I'm going to break your punch bowl!"

"It's plastic. Good luck."

"Then I'll melt it!"

Sabrina managed to latch onto Jill's cushion and halt her attack. "Go ahead, I hate that punch bowl." she challenged through her laughter.

"Then I'll just break everything else in your kitchen." Jill giggled, struggling for possession of her pillow.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"That punch bowl will be all you have left!" she gasped, hardly able breathe through her laughter. One firm yank ripped the cushion out of Sabrina's grip. "You won't even be able to burn dinner in there anymore."

She raised the pillow over her head as if preparing to strike and Sabrina squealed and turned her face.

"Then I'll burn dinner at your house!" she retaliated. "And if you hit me again, I'll do it tonight."

Jill raised the pillow higher. "Step one foot in my kitchen and I'll see that you're buried with that ugly punch bowl!" she laughed.

"What?"

Both girls turned their heads to see Kelly hovering in the office doorway, head cocked, eyebrows quirked and a half smile of amusement brightening her previously tired features. She'd managed to walk in just in time to hear only Jill's final out of context statement and appeared understandably confused by it.

"Morning, Kell!" Jill chirped, climbing off of Sabrina and lowering her weapon. "You just saved Bri's life."

"Shame. Do I even want to know?" Kelly asked with a grin. She shrugged her purse off and plopped down between her two friends. Sabrina, her playing not at all hindered by Kelly's arrival, immediately reached across her and snatched the pillow away from Jill while she wasn't looking.

"Hey!" Jill protested, making a desperate swipe at it. But, Sabrina held it away victoriously.

"I was just asking Jill how her date went." she said slyly, winking at Kelly. "And how she wasn't home when I called her after leaving your place."

Kelly raised an eyebrow and turned to Jill. "Oh?" she pressed suggestively. "So it went well?"

Jill scoffed and sprawled herself across the arm of the couch. "Don't listen to her. Josh took me to a pizza place. It was like being fifteen again." she giggled. "He was more interested in the pinball machine than me. I was home by nine."

"Ran out of quarters?" Kelly teased. Jill made a face at her, her antics broadening Kelly's smile. "So where do punch bowls fit in?" she continued.

Sabrina and Jill shared an amused look before Jill cleared her throat. "Well, Bri called me last night to pick up her punch bowl and I was already asleep -" She shot a look at Sabrina. "- by myself! And we were just joking about how ug-"

"The green plastic one?" Kelly cut in, with a sideways glance at Sabrina. "Isn't that mine?"

Jill, deciding she had explained more than enough, stopped talking and turned expectantly to Sabrina.

Sabrina tilted her head thoughtfully. "Oh yeah." she mused. "You're right. I'll have to get that back for you." She looked away, purposefully avoiding Jill's gaze to keep them both from bursting into laughter.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Don't bother." she replied with a chuckle. "It's awful, I was hoping you'd forget and keep it."

For reasons she didn't understand, Jill and Sabrina turned to each other and burst into laughter. Kelly smiled, laughing herself though she wasn't in on the joke. It just felt good to laugh. This was why she enjoyed their company so much. They were fun, they made her laugh, unlike so many others in her life. Any personal anxiety or insecurities always had a way of dissapating after a few minutes of light, easy conversation with her two best friends, and this morning's unsettled mood was no exception.

Between teasing and joking, Jill, who'd arrived first, informed her that Bosely was due back shortly with their new client in tow. But fighting the notorious morning L.A. traffic between the office and the airport was taking much longer than expected, so the girls filled the dead time with more happy conversation, knowing that they might not have time for it once this case was underway. By the time Bosely honked the horn on his Thunderbird, a strangely consistent "accident" to alert the girls to be in a professional state when their client entered the room, twenty minutes had gone by and Kelly was feeling much better, last night's vivid nightmare all but forgotten.

"Here he comes." Jill sang, sliding off of the arm of the couch and into a more professional position on the cushion. It was time for business. She smoothed her khaki slacks and neatly adjusted the pillows she and Sabrina had been throwing at each other.

"I heard this lady is loaded." Sabrina whispered from behind the bar where she busied herself pouring an extra cup of coffee. "Bos said to make a real good impression."

Jill cocked her head in feigned surprise. "Don't we always?" she asked innocently.

The girls giggled quietly together, finished cleaning up, and took their usual seats around the squawk box to await this mysterious new client. Less than a minute later, Bosely poked his head through the door and smiled, seemingly pleased at the sight of the three girls sitting politely, awaiting his arrival. They looked good, he noted. Business-like, professional, ready for action. His eyes caught Jill's, and she flashed a gleaming playful smile at him, reminding him of what lurked beneath.

As usual, he couldn't help but to smile back.

"Good morning ladies." he greeted them warmly, though his thin smile and guarded tone suggested that it might not be for all involved in today's meeting. He gave an elegant gesture and stepped aside to allow their client to enter the room first. She did so immediately, giving Bosely a slight nod of acknowledgement as she passed. The girls stood politely as she enterted.

Any lingering doubt about the nature of this case immediately flaked away as soon as the older woman bustled in the room. Whatever the problem, this woman seemed to radiate a heavy air of tension and within an instant the lighthearted, comfortable atmosphere of the lush office was transformed. She walked with quick, light steps to the middle of the room and then paused and frowned, as if she'd not found who she was looking for.

Undaunted, Jill and Sabrina gave her a polite smile in greeting, which she neither reciprocated or acknowledged. It was expected that Kelly had done the same and so, they didn't look at her face.

Had they, they would have seen a fleeting look of shock cross her features before being expertly neutralized into a blank, unreadable expression.

The woman in front of them was busy looking around the office and oblivious to the pair of green eyes boring into her. Kelly stared hard, feeling her heartbeat start to quicken and her stomach start to cramp, thousands of forgotten memories from the past dredged up at once in that one single, overwhelming instant. Just seeing her brought on the unpleasantly familiar stomachache it used to when she was a child, as though trained to do so on sight. Kelly sucked in a quick breath, fighting to keep her inner panic from seeping through. What was she doing here? Why? Why now? Why her? She swallowed and looked again to make sure. It was the nightmare playing tricks on her. Surely, she'd been mistaken.

But, no.

There she was. She was older, her face beginning to show the wrinkles and creases of age. She was dressed differently, more conservatively, whether due to age or the fifteen pounds she had since added to her formerly pencil thin figure, she wasn't sure, but the woman was now in current fashions instead of the sundresses and garish colors Kelly remembered her in. Her hair was also different. The beehive of the sixties that she had never managed to pull off was now worn down, cut short to frame her face, and if she wasn't still dying it platinum blonde, then she was sure to have streaks of gray running down from her temples. She looked more matronly now, a woman approaching fifty with dignity instead of the woman in her late thirties fighting tooth and nail to preserve her youth.

Yes, she was different. But it was her. There was no mistaking it and there was no denying it.

The initial shock worn off, Kelly watched her warily, wondering if she would be recognized and how to react when she was.

Mrs. Hanover was clearly under a great deal of stress, evidenced by the dark circles under her eyes, her thin pursed lips, and quick nervous movements. If she'd seemed tense at a distance, her entire aura screamed an overpowering mixture of frustration, anxiety, and fear up close. She took a few quick steps towards the long couch and then looked back at Bosely, waiting for an introduction.

"Ladies, this is our new client, Candace Hanover." Bosely introduced her. "Mrs. Hanover, these are my associates: Sabrina Duncan, Jill Munroe, and Kelly Garrett."

Mrs. Hanover gave the three girls a faint shadow of a smile before offering her hand to Sabrina, who was the closest to her.

"Hello." she said politely. Her voice was another kick in the gut, the same disinterested arrogance in her tone that Kelly remembered all too well.

Kelly studied her in disbelief as she shook Jill's hand and then her own. Her touch felt strange, foreign and cold. The woman looked right into her eyes, unenthusiastically shook her hand, and offered her a false smile. More affection in two seconds than she had ever given her as a mother, she noted. Yet there was no spark of recognition , nothing in her eyes that told her Mrs. Hanover had recognized her former foster daughter in either face or name. And Kelly made the split second decision to keep it that way.

Had she really changed all that much?, she wondered frantically. She had been several inches shorter, a lanky, underfed little girl, but her face hadn't changed all that much since she was twelve, had it? Had Mrs. Hanover recognized her, but chosen not to say anything?

No, she thought to herself firmly. She would have seen it in her eyes, her body language, something. Neither of her foster parents had paid very much attention to her. Maybe that was it.

The phone rang, interrupting any further thoughts, and all five turned towards the sound.

"Well then." Bosley started, rubbing his hands together. " Everyone have a seat. Let's get started, shall we?"

The women scattered themselves around the overstuffed sofas as Bosley walked back to his desk and dropped himself down into his own chair, grabbing up the phone as he did.

"All here, Charlie." he announced in a business-like voice. He flipped on the squawk box and Charlie's cultured, pleasant voice drifted out from the speaker on Bosely's desk.

"Good morning, angels." Charlie greeted them.

"Good morning, Charlie." they chorused back.

Charlie cleared his throat. "Candace? How are you this morning?" he asked, a trace of sympathy in his voice.

Candace Hanover sighed and anxiously toyed with the fringe on one of the couch cushions. "I'm as I should be expected to be." she answered. "I'm hoping you and your associates can help me."

Kelly looked away, too unnerved by the familiar voice she had grown to dread as a child, to retain eye contact. Everything seemed so surreal, like it couldn't be happening. Shouldn't be happening. She briefly squeezed her eyes shut and opened them again, half hoping she had just imagined the past few minutes.

But she hadn't. Her cruel, neglectful foster mother was here. Right here. Sitting in their office, with her friends, on the couch she often napped on, toying with the same pillow fringe that she herself liked to run her fingers through. The whole situation felt wrong, a violation on her privacy, an intrusion on her new life. Why? Of all the detectives in the country, why them?

A slight nudge to her ribs made Kelly start. She turned to head to catch a discreet look of disapproval from Jill.

Jill's blue eyes widened slightly and flitted over to the desk, a clear sign that her inattention was not going unnoticed. Kelly immediately fixed her eyes on the squawk box, though there was no way Charlie could have known that her attention was wandering. She had missed part of the conversation but careful listening would soon catch her up.

"I just know he didn't do it." Mrs. Hanover said determinedly. "I know my husband and he is not capable of -" she swallowed back a sob. "-of what they say he did."

Kelly's heart skipped a beat, knowing with sickening certainty who the "he" is question probably was. Was this going to get worse? Was this going to get unspeakably worse? She looked around the room at Jill, Sabrina, and Bosely's appropriately somber faces and quickly shifted her features to match them. What was going on?, her mind frantically wondered.

"Forgive me, Candace." Charlie said gently. "I have to ask. What makes you so sure that your husband isn't guilty."

Mrs. Hanover stiffened, offended at what she perceived to be Charlie's skepticism.

"Are any of you married?" she challenged.

Charlie cleared his throat. "No, ma'am." he answered honestly. "It didn't take."

She ignored him, and at her continued sternly inquisitive gaze, Sabrina and Bosely shared a look, then reluctantly mumbled a few words about their failed marriages as well.

"A year?" Mrs, Hanover echoed, eyeing Sabrina with disdain. "I've been married to the same man for twenty five years. When you're with someone that long you know them." She pursed her lips and straightened her spine. "And that, Mr. Townsend, is how I know my husband isn't guilty."

Jill, Sabrina, and Bosely glanced at each other and let the awkward silence hang in the air for a painfully long few seconds before Charlie finally cleared his throat.

"Alright, then." he said neutrally. "We'll do what we can. Slide please, Bosely?"

On cue, the room darkened, a white screen whirred into view, and a picture of a blonde girl in her early teens smiled back at them.

"Angels, this is Rebecca Saunders." Charlie announced. Kelly glanced nervously at her two friends as Charlie spoke, suddenly guessing at what she was about to hear. The grim tone in Charlie's voice indicated that they were about to hear something extremely unpleasant involving the sweet looking youth in the photo, and both Jill and Sabrina looked as if they were dreading the blow.

But Kelly already knew.

She knew. Though in her shock she'd missed some crucial bits of conversation, her nimble mind had quickly pieced the puzzle together. Her foster mother. The absence of her evil tempered and abusive foster father. A crime. This girl. Charlie's tone.

Kelly's stomach began to churn. She took a deep breath and anxiously began to grind her teeth.

"She was found in a dumpster just outside her hometown by some transients digging for coins. Carson City police ruled her death as a homicide." Charlie went on quietly. "She had been severely beaten but autopsy reports have determined her cause of death as strangulation. She was thirteen years old."

He paused for a moment, leaving the office in a thick and horrified silence.

"Now, several witnesses report seeing a navy blue Ford Mustang leaving the scene at the approximate time of death." Charlie continued. "A Ford Mustang matching the description of our client's husband."

The room was washed in darkness for an instant as the slide changed. When it reappeared, Kelly let out a strangled involuntary cough.

"This is James Hanover."

Sabrina absently patted Kelly on the back, simply believing her to have choked on the coffee in her hand. Kelly jerked away, eyes transfixed on the image before her.

There he was. Heavier, older, hairline beginning to recede. But it was him. With his huge frame and shirt stretched taut over the belly he must not have known he had. Smiling the same charming smile that had kept everyone from knowing the truth.

"He is the husband of our client and currently being held as the key suspect in the investigation of the girl's murder." Charlie explained. "This is going to be a tough one, angels. I'm afraid the evidence is well stacked against him. Po-"

"But he didn't do it!" Mrs. Hanover exclaimed from her seat. Her outburst startled even Charlie, and four sets of eyes fixed on her in surprise.

Kelly was closer, but Jill finally reached around her to give the older woman a reassuring pat on the knee. "We just have to know what we're up against." she explained gently.

Whether or not Jill's kind gesture calmed her, Mrs. Hanover angrily turned her head to stare across the room.

"Yes, Candace." Charlie continued. "The evidence was strong enough for an arrest. In order to overturn that, we need to know what we have to work with."

"Then go on." Mrs. Hanover snapped. She set her jaw angrily and stared at Jill's hand, still resting on her knee, as if it was festering with disease. Acutely aware of the blistering glare she was receiving, Jill awkwardly removed it and folded both hands in her lap.

"There was a great deal of evidence, angels. Rebecca was a foster child placed in the Hanover's care, so you can imagine the uproar this caused." Charlie went on. "In addition to the car, Hanover was seen leaving work during the time the murder supposedly took place. He claimed to have gone for a drive and has no alibi."

Jill and Sabrina winced simultaneously, garnering an agitated huff of annoyance from Mrs. Hanover. She hardly had a right to be upset, though. The evidence was indeed damning.

And had Kelly been listening she would have been inclined to agree. But the words "foster child" had brought all thought processes to an abrupt and screeching halt.

Her stomach gave a violent spasm that made her squirm in her seat. Foster child? It was worse than she'd expected. So much worse. That girl was his foster daughter, just as she had been ten years before. Probably beaten and bullied, terrorized and tortured. Just like her. Except for one vital difference.

He'd killed this girl.

And there was no doubt in her mind that he had. Candace Hanover was a fool if she believed otherwise. A cold sweat broke out over Kelly's face and for one terrifying instant, her breakfast threatened to come bubbling back up her throat. The repulsive and bitter taste of bile filled Kelly's mouth and she hurriedly slurped down a mouthful of coffee to wash it away. She dribbled it down her chin in her hurry and quickly wiped it away with hands that she didn't notice were trembling.

Her chest tightened, remiscent of a panic attack, and she fought hard to control her breathing. It was loud and harsh, how could Charlie be talking over it? How could she explain herself when all eight eyes in the room locked on her and demanded an explanation for her crazed behavior?

She chanced a glance up at her friends and was surprised to see that none of them were even looking at her. The nausea, the panic, the overwhelming feeling of having narrowly escape doomed, that was all for her. A private moment of horror.

Kelly took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as she could. She could almost hear the reality of her situation crashing all around her, deafening, overwhelming.

He had murdered a young girl and she was being paid to help him get away with it.

Despite the desire to jump out of her seat and tear out of the room and away from this as fast as she could, Kelly crossed her arms tightly over her chest and took several slow steady breaths.

They were just clients. This wasn't personal. Just a job.

Just a job.

"So where do we start Charlie?" Sabrina was saying, just as Kelly forced herself to tune back into the conversation.

"I want the three of you to fly to Carson City this evening. Tomorrow morning, I've arranged for you to meet with James Hanover." Charlie began earnestly. "I want you to talk to him, find out everything, every detail you can about where he was that day, who he was with, anything at all, angels."

"Didn't the police do that?" Jill spoke up. She shot a nervous look toward Mrs. Hanover, whom she was quickly realizing did not care for her at all. "Not being a skeptic, but if there was anything that could have gotten him off, then wouldn't his defense have found it by now?"

"To be honest, angels, this is going to take more than just questioning." Charlie explained. "After you find out all you can from him, do some digging, try to find someone, anyone that can pinpoint his exact location at the time of the murder." He paused for second. "Candace?"

"Yes?" she answered, her tone guarded and concealing anger.

"Would it be alright if the girls searched your home in Carson City?" Charlie asked cautiously. "The girl's room especially. If there is something out there that proves your husband's innocence, I don't want to leave any stones unturned. You understand that, don't you?"

The woman sat quietly before giving her head a slight nod. "I do, Mr. Townsend."

"What time is your flight back to Nevada?" Charlie asked after a beat.

Mrs. Hanover checked her watch, though she already knew the answer. "At two this afternoon." she said quickly. "I didn't want to be away long and that was the earliest flight back I could get."

"Would it be alright if the girls called on you later tonight then? Say seven or eight?"

The woman's eyes made a quick circuit around the three unlikely detectives in her presence and then came to a rest at the squawk box. Those girls might not be what she had been expecting and they might not fully believe her story, but they were the only chance her husband had.

She sighed and crossed her arms. "That would be fine, Mr. Townsend."

"Excellent." Charlie sighed, a touch of relief in his tone at her cooperation. "Lunch is on us, Candace. Bosley will take you somewhere and you can fill out all of the necessary paperwork. Angels?"

"Yes?" Jill answered for them.

"Get home and get packing, your flight leaves today at three."

"Will do, Charlie!" Jill sang cheerily. The tense atmosphere was suffocating her and if someone didn't crack a smile, she'd lose her mind. She flashed a grin at Sabrina, her friend's unamused face half hidden by the mug she was drinking from, then at Kelly, who looked as if she'd just eaten bad fish, and finally to Mrs. Hanover.

The woman glared at her and then turned away, muttering under her breath insults not meant for her ears.

Jill sighed and let her unreturned smile melt off of her face, feeling stupid for even trying to keep the mood up.

If everyone insisted on being so gloomy, this was going to be a long trip indeed.

* * *

At ten till two, Jill pulled up at Kelly's house and shut off the engine of her car. The location of Kelly's house in a quiet subdivision made it a more ideal place to leave all three of their vehicles than either Jill, Sabrina's or the airport parking lot and so the girls decided to rendevous there. The taxi would pick them up at 2:15, courtesy of Charlie, and whisk them away to the airport and the beginnings of this case. Hopefully it would be finished by the Fourth. Jill climbed out of her car, yawning as she did, and looked around.

It appeared she'd beaten Sabrina.

Just as well. She wanted to have a talk with Kelly.

As quickly as she could, she opened her trunk, hefted her suitcase and duffel bag out of its depths, and jogged up to the front door.

"Open up, Kell!" she shouted playfully, rapping at the smooth white paint of the door. "Let me in out of the cold!"

Light footsteps hurried forward, the latch clicked free, and the door opened partway, revealing Kelly's confused face.

"Cold?" she echoed, moving to let her friend in. "It's June."

Jill giggled. "I know. It's a joke, lighten up."

Kelly sighed and took her suitcase for her. "I figured that." she mumbled irritably, turning away. Jill watched her back, a frown darkening her pretty features, as Kelly set down the suitcase next to the couch.

Something was off.

Kelly wasn't herself.

She had suspected as much during the meeting with Candace Hanover and during the brief phone call they had shared to determine who the lucky one was who got to shelter their cars. Her behavior right now confirmed it. Instead of smiling and rolling her eyes or contributing to her silliness, Kelly seemed agitated, restless, not at all her usual kind, caring, and playful self. Her face was flushed and her moments erratic and careless.

"You feeling ok?" Jill chanced at her back.

She watched Kelly stiffen and immediately realized she had made a mistake.

"I caught my finger in a drawer." Kelly answered with a well placed laugh. Jill followed her friend's eyes to her right hand and noticed for the first time the wet kitchen towel wrapped around her fingers. "Other than that, I'm fine."

"Ouch." Jill whispered, wincing slightly. "Sure you're alright?"

Kelly smiled over her shoulder as she whisked by on her way to the front door. "Positive."

Jill nodded, though it didn't nothing to ease her suspicions. Kelly's kitchen drawer was notorious for sticking and accidentally closing on unsuspecting fingers. She had done it herself several times, but all it took was a little caution and the drawer was no threat. And that was the problem.

Kelly hadn't been careful.

Something was definitely on her mind, that much was clear. But now wasn't the time to probe into her best friend's damaged pysche. Kelly had just heard Sabrina pull up and was now waiting right outside for her. Any attempt now to pull information out of her would seem like a planned team effort, and would certainly make Kelly pull herself farther into her shell.

Jill bit her lip and then shrugged off the tingling feeling of uncertainty tugging at her. Maybe it was the fact that this case dealt with the murder of a foster child that had Kelly rattled. That had to be it. And if it wasn't, she would keep an eye on her anyway. Just in case.

That settled, Jill turned her attention toward the two chattering voices approaching the front door and grinned as Kelly then Sabrina stepped over the threshold.

"Hey, Jill!" Sabrina greeted, as she set her things down. "You all set?"

"All set, Bri." Jill answered with a toothy smile.

"Not me. But, I'm almost done." Kelly breathed, slipping by them both. She poked her head from behind a corner and narrowed her eyes playfully. "Can I trust you two alone in here for five minutes?"

Sabrina smiled innocently and traced an imaginary halo over her head with a finger. The comical gesture drew a laugh from Kelly and with a sigh, she disappeared into her bedroom to finish packing.

With nothing else to do but wait for Kelly, Sabrina and Jill gravitated towards the kitchen, opened the pantry, and plopped down into at the kitchen table with a pilfered unopened box of graham crackers between them.

"I wonder how long we'll be over there." Sabrina wondered aloud.

Jill shrugged and tore open the box, unaware it was upside down. "As long as it takes." she answered. She flashed a teasing grin at her friend, knowing full well how the philosophical response would annoy her.

Sabrina rolled her eyes and reached for a cracker. "I wonder if this is just a waste of time." she mused. "I mean, the guy seems guilty, ya know? What if this is just a desperate attempt on her part to get her husband back? What if there isn't anything to find?"

"Then we get paid for doing nothing, take our paycheck to Vegas, triple our earnings and take a long vacation in the Bahamas."

Jill giggled and responded to Sabrina's piteous look by taking a big crunchy bite out of her Graham cracker.

"Be serious." Sabrina chided gently.

"I am being serious." Jill insisted through her snack. "You hear about stuff like this all the time." She stopped and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though if Charlie took her case, then he might think there's more to her story." she admitted.

Sabrina grunted a reply and nibbled on her cracker. "You think we'll find anything?" she asked.

Jill shrugged and wiped her dusty fingers on her pants. "I don't know, Bri. There's something about her I don't like."

"Well, there's a lot about you she doesn't like." Sabrina chirped suddenly. "You see the way she looked at you when you touched her leg? Priceless!"

Jill made a face at her. "I was just trying to be nice!"

"Guess you weren't trying hard enough."

At Jill's warning glare, Sabrina laughed out loud and slid the box of crackers towards her. "I know, I know. I'm just sayin- she's kind of a snob. You can't win 'em all."

"Maybe you can't." Jill grumbled. "People like me. I'm the nice one."

"Mmhmm."

"You'll see, I'll win her over." Jill declared. She broke the corner of her cracker off and tossed it at her friend. "Besides, I'm not the only one who's iffy about her. I don't think Kelly likes her either."

Sabrina rolled her eyes and ate the piece of cracker Jill had tossed her way. "Why do you say that?"

"'Cause she's been acting funny." Jill answered simply. "Didn't you see her earlier? Something's on her mind."

"I think that has more to do with the case details than Candace Hanover." Sabrina whispered back quickly, looking over her and Jill's shoulder. "Don't say anything to her, you're just going to upset h-"

"I'm not." Jill interrupted irritably. "I'm not stupid, ya know. I just get the feeling she doesn't believe the lady. Next time we see her, watch Kelly."

"Alright, Jill." Sabrina sighed in defeat. She glanced at her watch and then craned her neck to peek over Jill's shoulder into the hallway.

"You almost done, Kell?" she shouted.

There was the slight crash of papers sliding to the floor and then Kelly's cheerful voice resonated through the hallway.

"Be done in a second!" she called from her room. "There's some Graham crackers in the pantry if you want a snack! Help yourselves!"

Jill and Sabrina snickered softly and each took another cracker out of the box.

"Thanks, Kell!" Jill called. She caught Sabrina's eye as she bit into her fourth cracker and giggled. Sabrina smiled back at her and tilted her head in Kelly's direction.

"See?" she whispered. "She's fine."

Jill shook her head. "Nope. I'm gonna keep an eye on her." she said seriously. "Something isn't right, Bri. I can feel it."

Sabrina sighed and stared at Jill's determined face. As much as she hated to admit it, Jill was usually right in instances like these. Ever perceptive, and ever the worrier. But she loved them both and meant well, and if her bubbly friend was worried, then there no harm in indulging her to stay on the safe side. She'd keep an eye on Kelly.

And Jill too, for that matter.

"Alright, Jill." she muttered. "If you say so."


	5. Chapter 5

**_Sorry for the delay. Rough week. But, the show goes on!_**

**_

* * *

_**

Chapter 5

_"Who told you that you could watch T.V.?"_

_Kelly started at the sudden voice. Surprised, she whirled around in her seat on the couch, an unexplainable icy feeling of dread flooding her as if she'd just been caught doing something wrong. Her inew foster father was standing behind her, his arms crossed in front of his chest in his seemingly constant stance of disapproval. She'd thought herself alone and the loud announcement of his arrival came as an unpleasant surprise. When had he gotten home?_

_The combination of her dumbfounded look and lack of an answer must have irritated the big man, because Hanover sighed and ambled around the couch to stand in front of her. He was no longer the toned athlete his pictures suggested he'd once been, but his huge frame still cut an imposing figure nonetheless. Kelly swallowed and immediately shrank back, suddenly extremely nervous in his shadow. She had arrived to an empty house nearly an hour ago and the uncomfortable heavy silence of her still unfamiliar home led her to seek out the television for company. She'd been sitting alone quietly, ignoring the program, and leafing disinterestedly through some paperwork meant to prepare her for the upcoming school year before Hanover's arrival._

_"I- um-nobody-" she stammered, hoping he would give her something else to go on. He didn't. Instead, he leaned forward and snatched the few papers from her hands._

_"What's this?" he demanded gruffly._

_Kelly swallowed. "Just some- some papers for school." she answered timidly. Her heart began to race for reasons she wasn't sure why. It'd only been two weeks, but her foster father made her very uneasy, almost frightened, though she wasn't yet sure how founded her reaction to his presence was. He was a bully for sure, mean and loud, and he'd already proven more than once that he wasn't above slapping her from time to time. But, that was nothing to really fear as long as he didn't seriously hurt her._

_"Homework?" he asked, staring down at her. "In the summer?"_

_Not wanting to prolong the interrogation, Kelly immediately nodded her head. "Yes, sir."_

_Hanover's hard stare continued, though she had given him his answer. Kelly squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze for a few seconds and, unable to tolerate the nervewracking silence, decided he wanted her to elaborate._

_"It's for my new sc-"_

_"I didn't ask you what it was for." Hanover interrupted._

_Kelly closed her mouth and lowered her eyes. "Sorry." she whispered. Hanover narrowed his eyes at her and, realizing the crucial omittance, she quickly added a hurried. "Sir."_

_"Don't talk to me unless I ask you a question." he sighed. "I don't need you wasting my time."_

_Kelly nodded her head and meekly folded her hands in her lap._

_"Do you need this?" Hanover continued, dangling a piece of paper in front of Kelly's face._

_She nodded, and Hanover dropped the paper to his side in annoyance. "Do you have a tongue?" he snapped irritably._

_The question understandably caught the girl off guard and her features furrowed in confusion. Hanover rolled his eyes and heaved a frustrated sigh in reponse. "Open your mouth." he ordered._

_Kelly looked around, puzzled by the request, but too afraid to ask for an explanation._

_"Open. Your. Mouth." Hanover repeated, speaking to her as if English was a foreign language. _

_He was fast losing what little patience he had. Not knowing what else to do, Kelly parted her lips and opened her mouth slightly. __Hanover made a show of looking inside. "You do have a tongue then." he concluded, after an awkward few moments. "So, when I ask you something you can answer me in words." He gave his head an over exaggerated nod. "This-" he said, still nodding his head ridiculously. "-is not an answer. I don't play charades. Now close your goddamned mouth, you look stupid."_

_Kelly quickly shut her mouth._

_Grumbling to himself, Hanover rifled through the papers he had taken from his foster daughter and calmly straightened them on the arm of the couch with a few neat taps. Even though Kelly was watching him intently, he pushed the papers in her face and without a word, calmly and slowly tore them in half, seeming to indulge in the satisfying rip the crisp papers made._

_Deciding it would be smart to keep her mouth shut, Kelly said nothing and quietly watched her foster father tear her homework in two and then four pieces. She hadn't been planning on finishing it anyway and it wasn't worth angering him over. When he was finished, Hanover crumpled the scraps and let them flutter into her lap._

_Kelly's eyes flitted towards them and then quickly back up into Hanover's challenging gaze. _

_"What?" he asked innocently._

_Kelly looked away uncertainly, shook her head, then remembered her previous lesson. "Nothing, sir." she whispered._

_"That doesn't seem right, does it?" Hanover asked casually, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I didn't even give you a say in it, did I?"_

_"No, sir." Kelly answered softly. She fidgeted anxiously and a scrap of paper slid off of her knee and fluttered to the carpet._

_"Shame." Hanover continued. "If I had asked permission, what would you have said?"_

_Kelly looked back up. Surely if she answered that she would have refused him, he would be angry. "Yes." she whispered._

_Hanover raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Yes?" he echoed. "Yes, you would let me tear up your homework?" _

_Kelly's stomach flipped, realizing she had answered incorrectly. Before she could correct it, he reached for the undamaged papers sitting by her side.__"Wait! No!" Kelly cried, flustered and anxious. "I-I would have said no!"_

_Her voice died in the quiet living room, heard but ignored. Hanover tore her papers into six pieces anyway and let them join their companions on her lap._

_"You would have said no." Hanover repeated quietly. He watched his foster daughter fidget uncomfortably in his stare and then smiled. "That's why you ask permission in this house. You're not in charge, I am. And I decide what you can and can't do. Do you understand me?"_

_Kelly nodded quickly, sensing an end to the conversation and very eager for it. Her stomach was stressed to the point that she felt sick, her heart was thumping in her chest, and her palms felt cold and clammy._

_Hanover tilted his head. "Do you understand me?" he repeated sternly._

_Kelly caught her mistake a beat later. "Yes, sir." she blurted out hurriedly. The two spoke at nearly the same time and, nerves finally giving way to fear, Kelly bit her lip and looked at the jagged and torn scraps of paper littering the carpet and concealing her shoes. Hanover let her squirm for a few seconds more before chuckling to himself and walking away, flicking off the television as he passed._

_"Good." he said as he walked away. "Clean up your mess and go to your room." To test her, he stopped and waited to see if she would respond._

_Kelly was a quick learner._

_"Yes, sir." she called over her shoulder._

* * *

"Kelly!" Jill sang. "Wake up, we're landing."

Though she had a headache and her ears were ringing, Kelly let Jill shake her shoulder for a moment before opening her eyes and stretching tiredly.

"Are we here?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"We just started descending." Sabrina explained, shaking her head sadly. "Jill jumped the gun a little."

Jill looked out her window in confusion and then grinned sheepishly, realizing her error. "Oh, did I?" she replied sweetly. She shrank back into her seat with a little sigh and patted Kelly's hand. "Sorry, Kell."

Kelly smiled in response and leaned her head back. "It's ok. I'm glad you did." She yawned and let her head loll to the side, where clouds were rushing by the little porthole to Sabrina's left.

Truthfully, she hadn't been sleeping. Jill and Sabrina were in an overly chatty mood and after thirty minutes of trying to follow conversation through all of the memories, thoughts, and fears spinning and crashing through her head, she had decided to pretend to fall asleep. Talking had given her a headache and she had other things to worry about.

Like how she was about to vindicate one of the most evil men she had ever had the displeasure of knowing.

She sighed, and tried to shake away the awful memories she had been reliving while she pretended to sleep. Dark, terrible memories that had to be kept secret. Memories that had made it impossible to focus on anything but. A slight twinge of guilt for ignoring her friends tugged at her conscience, but she brushed it away. Jill and Sabrina wouldn't mind. She often fell asleep on long rides, why would this time be any different?

She rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder, as if stretching stiff muscles, to continue the illusion to her friends that she was still in the process of waking up. Kelly inwardly rolled her eyes at herself as she did. She was really committed to the lie, wasn't she? Not that her friends seemed suspicious. They had no reason to be. They couldn't know that, even if she had wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to fall asleep.

How could she?

How could one sleep when they were knowingly being dragged to the site where nine of the worst months of one's life had taken place. Nine months of terror, pain, torment, and crushing solitude. Kelly shuddered involuntarily.

"You sleep ok?" Jill asked suddenly, turning towards her.

Kelly immediately shoved her inner turmoil away. Now was not the time. "Fine." she murmured.

"You feeling better now?"

Better now?

"What?" Kelly opened her eyes and shot her best friend an inquisitive glance, which Jill returned with a grin and a casual shrug.

"You seemed a little tired earlier." she answered innocently. Kelly watched Jill's blue eyes flick briefly over her shoulder to where, if she knew her dark haired friend, Sabrina had just given her a stern non verbal warning. True to form, Jill answered it with a discreet roll of her eyes and slumped back in her seat. "Anyway, sorry I woke you." she sighed. She grabbed at the book she had brought with her and for the first time the entire trip, cracked it open to the first page.

Kelly watched Jill busily pretend to read for a second and then turned back to Sabrina. Whatever look she had been shooting Jill behind her back was now replaced with her usual grin.

Though squabbling between Jill and Sabrina was nothing unusual, right now it made a cold chill run down every vertebrae of her spine.

Did they suspect?

Her stomach flipped, sending the sour taste of bile burning at the back of her throat. She swallowed it away and forced herself to relax. That was silly. She had, in a moment of shock, maybe acted strangely at the office, but there was no way they could possibly know based on that. No way at all. It wasn't enough. And all she had to do was act normal for a few days and they would stop their incessant worrying and everything would go back to normal.

Normal.

Just the way she had always wanted it. Just the way she had worked so hard keeping her past at bay enough to maintain. But all her effort was wasted, because without warning her past had resurfaced. And not just nightmares. Those were bad enough as it was. No, this time the nightmares were real. There was no waking up, there was no escaping, there was no changing anything. She was powerless to do anything but her job. And her job was bringing her face to face with two of the worst people she had ever known. Forcing her to help those who had hurt her the most. Their mission was to set free a monster that had been caged for the safety of all of those unnamed children he had hurt and had yet to hurt. How could she live knowing she had failed every child that had passed through his door, and damned every child destined to do the same?

After that normal would never be normal again.

Kelly clenched her teeth and swallowed the rising hysteria threatening to shatter the calm exterior she was trying so hard to convey. She jumped when Sabrina's warm hand covered hers on the arm rest, startling Kelly out of her impending panic.

"You ok?" Sabrina asked, her features furrowed in concern. "You've been kinda distracted all day. Something wrong?"

"No, just a bad headache." Kelly answered quickly.

Whether or not her friend bought her lie remained unclear judging by her expression. Sabrina only patted her hand affectionately and smiled in response. "Almost there." she said gently.

Kelly smiled weakly and turned away. Her nervously wandering eyes rested on Jill, who upon noticing that she was the subject of Kelly's gaze, looked away and pretended to be interested in the same page of her book she'd been on several minutes before.

Kelly took a deep breath. They would be landing soon and this case would begin, regardless of whether or not she was ready. Despite her wish never to return, she'd be back in Nevada, back in Carson City, back in the presence of her abhorrent foster mother. As she let that sink in, the implications of all it would entail slowly began to dawn on her, one at a time, each more horrifying than the last.

She'd have to meet him. Have to stand before him once more, look up into his dark eyes, always bloodshot , always narrowed in scorn.

It was unavoidable, but that horror seemed a lifetime away. Too upsetting to even think about right now. There was another matter more pressing.

Because, their first stop would be another meeting with Candace Hanover. And in order to do that, she would be forced to walk back into her most hated of all childhood homes, the source of so many horrible memories. She set her jaw and forcefully pushed back the rising hysteria threatening to overwhelm her.

Don't lose it now, Kelly Garrett, she told herself angrily.

Don't you dare lose it now.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"This isn't how I pictured Nevada." Jill mused, her forehead pressed to the window.

Sabrina glanced at the unremarkable scenery rushing by and grinned tolerantly. "They don't have the casinos everywhere, ya know."

"I know that." Jill responded, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was being teased. "But it just looks like…well, it looks like California."

"They're right next to each other, Jill."

"So what? I don't need a geography lesson." Jill huffed. "I'm just saying it's not what I expected, that's all."

Kelly heaved a quiet sigh of irritation that she was able to hide under the guise of rubbing her eye. Jill and Sabrina's pleasant moods were fast getting on her nerves and with only a short cab ride from the hotel to the Hanover's residence, her sleeping trick wouldn't be quite as believable as it was on the plane. Instead, she stared out of her window and hoped that neither of her friends would talk to her. There was a slight measure of guilt that came with ignoring them, but their cheerful banter seemed like it was mocking her and each joke that came out of either of their mouths made her want to scream. If they knew what kind of monster they were trying to set free, there would be no laughing to be heard.

Kelly gritted her teeth and angrily rubbed the bridge of her nose, as if the rough treatment would be at all effective at warding off the tension headache pounding in her skull. She'd taken her last aspirin right before boarding the plane and though Sabrina probably had some in her purse, she didn't dare ask. Her friends didn't seem to notice her discomfort and asking would only draw attention to it. On the off chance they commented on her silence, maybe she could feign illness or something. It wasn't too far off from the truth.

As for what happened when they met again with Mrs. Hanover, she couldn't be sure how far a little misdirection would take her.

But she'd cross that bridge when she got there.

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind, than the taxi cab banked a right onto a busy street and rolled towards downtown Carson City. Kelly glanced listlessly out the window and felt her stomach give an angry turn. That bridge seemed to have crept up faster than she could prepare herself. In spite of herself, her eyes drank in the full view of the bustling heart of the city.

It was all the same.

The same yet different.

The unexpected familiarity jolted through her system like a shot, sending chills down her spine and beads of sweat dotting her forehead. Some colors had changed, some shops she recognized, some she didn't, but it was still the same downtown she remembered as a young girl. The buildings, the trees, the decorated shop windows. All the same. The knot in her stomach began to twist more and more as the familiar scenery unleashed scattered flashes of distant and long buried memories associated with them. The barber shop, the rundown movie theater, the Italian restaurant with the black wrought iron fence. Just as they were ten years ago.

Kelly gritted her teeth and forced the fluttery feeling of panic back down her throat.

Looking out the window probably wasn't a good idea.

As she drew slow, calming breaths, she averted her eyes and forced herself to tune back into Jill and Sabrina's conversation for no other reason than to focus her thoughts elsewhere. Their odd silence made her stomach cramp yet again.

"Kell?" Sabrina called again, a touch of unease in her voice.

Kelly turned her head to her two friends and hoped to God that she didn't look as sick as she felt. "Sorry, what?" she blurted out.

Jill and Sabrina shared a quick look, before Sabrina smiled and cocked her head to the side.

"I asked if you had ever been to Nevada before." she repeated, eyeing her friend uncertainly. "You busy daydreaming or something?"

Kelly returned the smile. "Oh, no. I've never been." A tired yawn suddenly seemed to be in order. "Sorry, I'm just a little tired." she answered aftwards. "Didn't sleep too well last night."

"Well, we're going to be busy tomorrow so make sure you sleep good tonight." Jill chimed in. "You've been awfully quiet."

"Have I?" Kelly responded innocently. "I'm sorry."

Sabrina laughed her awkward laugh. A bit too loud and a bit too forced. "Don't be sorry." she reassured, nudging her friend playfully. "Just saying."

Kelly nodded, cleared her throat, and most of the next minute was filled with an even more awkward silence, which was blessedly broken by their driver.

"Almost there, ladies." he announced disinterestedly.

His words broke the spell and all three girls turned away from each other.

"Alright. Thanks." Sabrina murmured in response.

The driver nodded his head and all four occupants of the cab fell silent, each staring out a different window. A right turn took them away from the businesses and restaurants of the main street and through a barren field of what Kelly remembered used to be a crime-ridden park. Somehow as a bleak and forlorn looking stretch of weeds and dead grass, it seemed more fitting to the occasion.

She closed her eyes and bit down hard on her tongue to distract herself.

The field gradually gave way to a few scattered houses and then finally a charming middle class residential neighborhood.

They were getting closer.

Kelly swallowed hard and anxiously wiped the cold sweat from her forehead. Though her stomach churned with dread at the idea of her old home, she couldn't stop herself from mentally checking off all of the old landmarks she had long ago been accustomed to as if it was some kind of sadistic game fate was playing with her. A right turn at what was once a field and now a community pool. A left at the big yellow house, now painted a clean looking white. Another left at the unchanged red brick house with the tree that loomed out and over the street. And a final right down at the fork in the road.

And all of a sudden it was in sight.

Just as she had remembered. Just as she had tried to forget.

The steadily approaching sight of her old home sent a stab of old yet paralyzing fear into Kelly's heart.

Save for a fresh coat of paint on the window sidings, the past ten years had done little to change the facade of the house. It was exactly the same as it had been when she'd first been walked up the drive that summer day in 1966. She'd been a little girl, empty and lost, hoping desperately that this would be the place where she would find the love and acceptance that had been so glaringly absent from her life.

What she found instead still gave her nightmares even ten years later.

The cab began to slow and coasted closer and closer. Jill and Sabrina were craning their necks to see the painted addresses on the curb and it irritated Kelly until she realized that she was the only one absoutely sure of their destination. It took them less time to pinpoint it than she would have liked.

If the first sight of the dreaded house deeply unsettled her, than pulling up in the driveway nearly sent her into a blind panic. But she would have to keep her cool. There was no other way.

Kelly sat numbly in her seat, unknowingly crushing the handle of her door in a fierce white knuckled grip. She was hardly aware of the car stopping or Sabrina paying the driver and clambering out of her door. She felt Jill's slight nudge in her ribs, and though every long dormant instinct in her was screaming to stay away, she opened the door and stepped outside with all the normalcy she could muster.

"Ok, we'll talk with Mrs. Hanover again, we'll search the kid's room and just see what happens from there." Sabrina whispered quickly.

Kelly looked up, surprised to see that her two friends were on either side of her. Somehow, in the midst of staving off the fresh bombardment of horrible memories the sight of the house had churned up, she had walked from the cab all the way to the front door without really being aware of what she was doing. But that didn't surprise her. A childhood that consisted of going through the motions. Hadn't she been used to that?

Sabrina continued muttering under her breath, but Kelly unconciously tuned her out. She wanted to scream. Scream and run as far away as she could. Alarm bells sounded in her mind, the same sickening mix of terror and dread that seized her every time she stood before the front door as a little girl. The fear of knowing she was walking to where danger and uncertainty lived inside.

And knowing she had called them parents.

A sharp rap jerked her out of her trance. Kelly straightened up and discreetly glanced at her friends.

Jill had just knocked, she realized. She clenched her teeth and hoped that her companions couldn't hear her heart hammering in her chest. Their faces didn't reveal anything but businesslike determination, however, so she could put that anxiety to rest for now. There were bigger tasks to face.

Like how she was going to force herself to step inside this house.

The logical part of her mind managed to separate itself enough for her to be disgusted at just how much this was upsetting her. But there was nothing she could do to avoid it and that thought in itself was almost as maddening as anything else. Before she had even begun to prepare herself, the latch clicked free and the door opened warily.

Half of a face studied them distrustingly for a few seconds from the slight crack and then disappeared. The door closed, the latch clicked free, and the door slowly reopened, revealing Candace Hanover's needlessly disapproving face.

"You're early." she muttered by way of greeting. "Mr. Townsend said you'd be here at eight."

Sabrina and Jill shared a quick look, but mutually decided to ignore the rude greeting. Mrs. Hanover looked haggard and unkempt, even worse than yesterday, like she'd been without sleep for more than a night. Her clothes, though expensive, didn't quite match and were carelessly wrinkled, her top button lodged into the wrong hole creating an overall rumpled appearance. Her red rimmed eyes were bleary and nose rubbed raw, both tell tale signs that she had been crying recently. And often. The poor woman was clearly under a great deal of stress and should be given some leeway with her manners.

Kelly, however, knew better. Candace Hanover was rude to everyone.

"Yeah, not as much traffic here as in L.A." Sabrina answered with a warm smile. "I forget we're not home."

Mrs. Hanover gave her head a slight nod and moved aside to let the girls through. Kelly entered first, quickly and silently, her chalk white face hidden from her companions.

"You have a beautiful home." Jill remarked as she stepped inside. "So roomy."

Mrs. Hanover pushed the door closed with a sharp crack.

"I had to sell some of my furniture to hire you." she said shortly.

Jill nearly swallowed her tongue. "Oh."

Mrs. Hanover bustled off and though the girls hadn't been invited to, they followed her into the den. With their host's back safely towards them, Sabrina purposely drifted into Jill and softly clucked her tongue in mock disapproval. "Swing and a miss." she whispered discreetly in her friend's ear.

Jill blushed and purposely avoided the look she knew Sabrina was giving her. Strike two, then. No matter. She wasn't out yet. She squared her shoulders and kept walking.

"Please have a seat over here, ladies." Mrs. Hanover offered, though politeness was absent from her tone. "Would you like anything to drink?"

Jill and Kelly were apparently both busily avoiding eye contact with their rude host, so Sabrina smiled politely and answered for them. "No thanks." She and Jill took their seats on the uncomfortable but clean looking sofa and,oblivious that their quiet friend had been fighting tooth and nail for sanity the moment she'd stepped foot inside, left Kelly standing alone.

Kelly stared numbly at the piece of furniture her friends were sitting on. It was the same couch, in the same place. Just looking at it, she remembered how it felt, its uncomfortable cushions with springs she could feel digging into her skin, its slightly rough texture with raised embroidered designs that she had always found unnecessary, the fabric covered decorative buttons in the middle of each seat that forced her to sit towards the dip of each cushion to avoid them. It looked shabbier, more faded, than it had when she was twelve. Still nice, but like everything else in the house it had aged. Ten years was a long time.

Though there was no amount of time long enough to separate this place from her.

The older woman glanced at each girl one by one before she finally took a seat in the big recliner James Hanover had always used.

Kelly felt a flash of fear, brief, but so powerful it made her take a retreating step backwards. That was his spot. Where he drank beer, yelled, watched T.V. He had called her over to that chair countless times to berate her, hit her, order her about. Seeing his wife in his place felt almost wrong and for an instant she expected him to barge into the room and reclaim his threadbare throne.

A light pat to the back of her knee pulled her out of the flood of memories that had washed over her. Without acknowledging Sabrina at all, Kelly sank onto the couch, away from the annoying button just as she'd always done, and stared blankly ahead.

"What do you need to know?" she heard the older woman ask.

Kelly blinked and tore her eyes away from all the haunting distractions from her youth. They had a case. She forced herself to take a deep breath and turn back to their client. Mrs. Hanover was as closed off as she could be, arms folded, legs crossed, drawn into the big chair, looking dwarfed by its size. She didn't like this part of their job and if she was trying to hide that, she was failing.

Jill, as usual, had her finger right on it.

"Mrs. Hanover-" she started softly. "We aren't here to find more evidence against your husband. We just want to look around the girl's room and some of your things t-"

"You know he didn't do it, right?"

Her question was abrasive, accusing, and unexpectedly hostile.

Jill and Sabrina, both failing to catch Kelly's eye, shared another look between them. One less tolerant of the old woman's rudeness. Irritated now, Sabrina cleared her throat and forced a smile. "You hired us to prove his innocence, ma'am. That's what we're going to try to do."

"But you don't believe me. You don't believe that my husband had nothing to do with Becky's death." Mrs. Hanover accused flatly. "I hired you, yes. I paid Charlie Townsend good money for your services, yes. But my concern is that you don't seem very committed to helping us. If I wanted doubt and knowing looks- well, I got that from the police for free."

Her harshly worded accusation hung in the air without reaction for a long few seconds. Sabrina finally let out a quiet laugh of disbelief, but before she could verbally respond, Jill placed a hand on her arm and leaned forward with a gleaming and trust winning smile.

"If he is innocent, there's going to be some kind of evidence to prove that." she started carefully. Sabrina opened her mouth to speak, but Jill gave her arm a slight squeeze to silence her. "We want to start here because this is a place both him and Becky had in common. Now, if there's anything at all, trust us, we will find it." She waited a moment to gauge the older woman's reaction, then apparently pleased, she continued. "But we need your cooperation." she said softly. "We want to help. We want to find that evidence, whatever it may be, and if it's here, you can help us by giving us a place to start."

Her serious expression softened into a warm smile. "Can you think of anything at all? Something you might have forgotten to tell the police, something you may not have thought of. Did Becky keep a diary? Does your husband have an appointment book? Something, anything."

Mrs. Hanover narrowed her eyes spitefully at Jill before turning towards Sabrina and Kelly.

"I've told police everything I could think of." she said evenly. "But, if you think there's something I so carelesly missed out on that would have kept my husband of twenty five years out of police custody-" she turned and shot Jill another hate filled glare to be sure the blonde detective had picked up on her sarcasm. "- then you can look through Jim's office."

"Thank you." Jill answered politely, ignoring the obvious tension between them. "And Becky's room?"

Mrs. Hanover didn't even look at her when she answered.

"I've already looked through Becky's room. You're welcome to look again. Let me know if you find anything." she told Kelly and Sabrina.

The living room lapsed into silence. Out of curiosity, Kelly stole a glance at Jill. She had so often been the recipient of such disdain when she was twelve, it was strange to see someone else get the brunt of it, and for the first time she got to see the verbal abuse from an outsiders perspective. It seemed even less pleasant.

Jill was very animated, easy to read and the expression on her face looked like she was torn between being hurt or angry by the obvious snub. Kelly looked away furiously, unable to watch the effect this woman was having on her best friend. It hadn't taken long for Mrs. Hanover to take a dislike to Jill. Thank God this woman hadn't raised her.

Because Kelly remembered all too well the unwarranted hostility the woman had shown her as a little girl. The undeserved cutting remarks, the criticism, rejection, insults, and complete neglect that were all staples of her relationship with Candace Hanover. Hours of lying in bed wondering what she had done wrong, how she had offended the foster mother she had tried so hard to please, what the reason could be that caused the scowl that darkened the woman's face every time she looked her way.

The adult that she was understood now, but the child she had been had no way of comprehending then. It had damaged her, compressed her into a little shell, made her feel unworthy of showing herself to others.

Jill would do well to forget trying to please the woman. Once she decided she didn't like someone, it never changed and Candace Hanover, for whatever reason, hated everything Jill was.

But, Kelly found herself impressed with the way Jill brushed it off.

"I can check the office myself." she said casually. "It's pretty small. You guys can go up to Becky's room."

Sabrina cleared her throat and stood, hoping to alleviate the awkward atmosphere of the room. "Sounds good." she said, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "Mrs. Hanover, if you think of anything else, please just let us know."

"I'll do that. Thank you, Ms. Duncan." the older woman said warmly. She extended her kind smile to Kelly and then rose from her seat and walked into the kitchen.

The girls watched her go, before Sabrina turned to Jill and gave her a sympathetic smile.

"Strike three, kiddo." she mouthed, patting her shoulder. "You're out."

Jill shook her head, a strange look of determination on her face, before turning away with a huff and stalking angrily toward James Hanover's study. Kelly watched her retreating form. It was almost sickening to watch Jill be subjected to Candace Hanover's cruel behavior. She looked back at the couch the woman had been sitting on and stared hard at the worn material of the backing.

If Mrs. Hanover had recognized her, would it still be Jill receiving her hostility? How did she even pick who she didn't like? She was the same person, wasn't she? Why did the woman treat her better now than when she lived under the same roof?

"Let's go to their room first." Sabrina whispered, giving her a gentle nudge with her elbow.

Shaken out of her reverie, Kelly nodded and padded quietly behind her friend toward the hallway.

To keep memories at bay, she kept her eyes carefully fixed on the floor. But, without realizing it, this tactic failed. The beige carpet had been new when she first arrived. There had certainly been enough stern reminders from her foster parents to not forget that fact. She caught herself looking down at the spot where she had once upset a potted plant. The mud stain she'd left trying to clean it couldn't even be seen anymore, she observed with mild surprise. Either the Hanover's had cleaned it more thoroughly after she left or the rest of the carpet had grown just as dingy.

She tore her eyes away as the girls entered the hallway. Ahead of her, Sabrina opened a door and let out a sigh of frustration. "Which one did she say it was?" she muttered, closing a useless closet door.

Kelly shrugged. "I don't think she did." she said quietly. "Try that one."

Sabrina reached out for the doorknob that Kelly's slight head nod had gestured to. The downstairs bathroom, immaculate as always, greeted them.

Sabrina quickly shut the door. "Nope." she sighed. She moved down the hall, opened the final door, peeked inside, and with an air of satisfaction swung it wide.

"Here we go." she announced. "Door number three as usual."

Kelly forced herself to grin at the joke and followed her inside. Though she had lived here almost a year, the Hanover's bedroom and downstairs hallway were not familiar to her. There had been no faking in her random guess as to which door was the one they were looking for.

The girls stepped inside the spacious master bedroom and looked around. Kelly let her eyes fall on the big brass bed taking up a large section of the room, then the dark blue curtains, and finally the cluttered vanity in the corner. Were they the same? The bedspread and curtains had probably changed in the past ten years, but try as she might, she couldn't remember what they had looked like before.

This didn't surprise her. She'd only been into the bathroom a few times when the upstairs toilet had a leak, the hallway only a handful of times, and the master bedroom even less, either when called for or for some menial task like dropping off laundry. She hadn't been allowed in the Hanover's room and had taken it one step further by avoiding the hallway that led to it altogether.

But at least there were no bad memories here.

Or anything useful.

Sabrina finished pushing through the clothes in the closet before sighing and sliding the door shut.

"Not much here, huh?" she told Kelly absently.

Kelly, hoping her friend hadn't realized she had been staring off into space for the past several minutes, turned and dropped to her knees to give a quick and halfhearted search under the bed.

Like the rest of the room, there was nothing to find there either.

"Doesn't look like it." Kelly answered. To her relief, Sabrina turned around in time to see her climb back to her feet. Hopefully, she had looked productive.

"Upstairs?" Sabrina suggested, tilting her head towards the door.

"Upstairs."

With Sabrina in the lead, the two girls made their way out of the master bedroom, back through the unfamiliar hallway, and up the staircase. With each footstep Kelly felt herself grow more and more nervous and by the time she stepped off of the last stair and onto the second floor, the churning feeling of nausea had taken over once more.

Unlike the downstairs hallway, this one she remembered.

The hair on the back of her neck stood as a tingling chill crept down her spine. Yes, this hallway she remembered well. Her eyes found the chilling reminders of her past, all the permanent clues that she had once lived her. There was the slight dent her head had made in the wall by the bathroom door where Hanover had violently shoved her. The beige carpet that had so painfully burned the elbows and knees that broke her many falls. The door that separated her from the tiny closet she had been locked in as punishment.

Kelly shuddered involuntarily. There had been countless hours of terrorizing in this hallway, so close to her bedroom door, probably to give her a false sense of close escape. She nervously wiped her mouth and was startled to find that her face was beaded with cold sweat. She looked at Sabrina and noticed goosebumps rising up on her arms.

How could she be cold? It was so stuffy in here. So suffocating and warm.

She wiped her face again and swallowed the acidic burning in her throat.

"Time to play this game again." Sabrina muttered to herself. "How 'bout this one?"

Kelly remained silent. Did Sabrina always talk to herself this much? She felt hyper aware, like time was flying by faster than she could process, completely and utterly out of her control.

"Another closet." Sabrina mumbled.

Kelly didn't even look. She knew this hallway well, had visited it after her escape during the many nightmares this place had inspired. But, she let Sabrina lead and continued to play ignorant. If she acted familiar with this house, there would be questions she couldn't answer. No. Best to stay behind. She heard, but couldn't watch Sabrina close the door.

Of course that had been the closet. And the doorknob that Sabrina was reaching for now led to the guest bedroom. The one across from it was the restroom.

And the second door to the right was her old bedroom.

Her heart began to pump faster and faster the closer Sabrina got. Her friend's slender hand closed the guest room door, skipped the bathroom, and went directly for her bedroom.

"Ah, I knew this looked promising." Sabrina quipped softly after a quick peek inside. Her slim frame slipped through the door and though her chest felt tight and her heart was hammering, Kelly had no choice but to follow.

"You think they'd give the kid a nicer room." Sabrina muttered, wrinkling her nose in disapproval.

Kelly didn't see her expression. Her eyes were glued to the floor. Taking a breath would shatter her composure. Looking up would send her into a fit of panic.

"You wanna start with the closet or should I?" Sabrina asked absently, though she was already floating towards the closet door.

Stupid. She was being stupid, Kelly berated herself angrily. You know what it looks like. Just look up. Look up and get it over with. She wrenched her gaze off of the floor and forced herself to take a good look around the room she had tried so hard to forget.

"Kell?"

But Kelly didn't hear her. She was a little girl again, banished to her room hungry, bleeding, and scared.

There it was.

The same pale green color on the walls, the same white, paint chipped little nightstand, the same dumpy looking dresser that bore the marks of a frustrated and angry little fist.

A flood of memories, some bad some worse, surged through Kelly's racing mind at the sight of her old room. Nights spend huddled in bed, crying and shaking in terror, sometimes beaten bloody, always wondering if he would come back to finish her off. And then there were nights, those horrible nights, when he did come back.

It was too much.

The sandwich and bowl of soup she had eaten on the plane came rushing back up her throat, hot and searing, unwilling to compromise anymore. She managed to clap a hand over her mouth and shoved herself away.

Luckily the bathroom was close.

Kelly burst through the door, desperately stumbled her way inside, skidded to the floor on her knees, and retched violently into the porcelain bowl. Her throat burned in protest, but her stomach refused to leave anything behind. She retched again and again, splashing the cold water onto the lid of the bowl and her face until finally there was nothing left. She stayed there after she had finished, weak with exertion, and gasping for breath.

A gentle arm slid around her shoulders and in her frightened state, she panicked and slapped it away. The frantic movement sent her toppling off balance from her crouch and sprawling into the smooth white wall of the bathtub with a hollow thud.

"Whoa!" Sabrina cried out, holding out her hands in surrender. "Hey! It's me! It's just me!"

Kelly froze, hands thrown up to shield her face, eyes wide with panic. The curtain of terror lifted, revealing her best friend standing over her. For the second time in two days, she had mistaken Sabrina's well meaning intentions for Hanover's violence. Only this time there was no mistaking that she had lost it.

"B-Bri-" she sputtered.

"Jesus-" Sabrina breathed, a hand over her heart. "Are you alright?"

Kelly sucked in a few more breaths and finally realizing how crazed she looked, nodded her head and lowered her hands.

"Yeah- yeah, I'm fine-" she gasped, wiping at her face. "I'm sorry-God, I'm sorry."

Sabrina pursed her lips, watching her friend with growing unease. This wasn't the first time she had flinched at being touched, flung her hands in front of her face as if she expected her friends to strike her. Kelly had done that before. It had been years ago though, when she was still skittish with her and Jill. Before they'd won her friendship and trust. Jill was right. Had been right all along. There was definitely something wrong with her and it wasn't just an upset stomach.

"You don't look fine." she whispered. She bent down and laid a hand between Kelly's trembling shoulder blades. "C'mon, I'm taking you back to the hotel."

Kelly shook her head and shrugged her away. "No, really." she panted, scrambling to her feet. "I feel better now. I guess it was just the plane ride-"

"The plane ride?" Sabrina echoed doubtfully.

Kelly flushed the toilet and set about cleaning herself up with hands that wouldn't stop shaking. "What else could it be?" she snapped.

Sabrina narrowed her eyes. "You tell me, Kelly."

Kelly didn't have a response. She lowered her eyes and busied herself in the sink, rinsing out her mouth and washing her still trembling hands. She was shaken up, there was no doubt about it and worst of all, there was no hiding it. Her cheeks flushed with shame and embarrassment. She could feel Sabrina staring at her and purposefully looked away from the mirror to avoid seeing the reflection of the worried and suspicious look she knew her best friend was giving her.

"We can finish this later." Sabrina said quietly. "When you're ready we can get Jill and get out of here."

Kelly nodded weakly and continued to let the stream of water splash onto her hands. Of all the places in this terrible house, this room had always been her escape. How many times had she stared into the soothing jet of water, let it wash away blood, cool her bruised face, offer her the only bit of comfort this place would allow? She stared at the smooth porcelain that the water was beginning to pool in, oddly calmed by both the sight and the sound.

A slight movement in the mirror's reflection reminded her that Sabrina was still in the room with her, probably unnerved by her outburst. She hadn't touched her again, which Kelly was grateful for, but it was clear that she wasn't going to leave her alone. Kelly took a deep breath, begrudgingly squeaked the faucet off and, as prepared as she was going to be for it, turned to face her friend.

"Sorry." she said, summoning a faint smile. "I- I guess airline peanuts didn't agree with me."

Sabrina didn't come close to buying her attempt at light heartedness. She frowned and studied Kelly intently. "You look terrible." she said bluntly. "When we get back to hotel, you're going to lie down."

Kelly nodded again, knowing better than to argue. She wanted to leave more than anything, and with Sabrina's guard up so high, this was probably the perfect opportunity.

"Good idea." she let herself mumble. "I think that's all I need."

Sabrina stepped forward to take her arm, but stopped herself short. Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed, however. Kelly winced inwardly, feeling uncomfortably exposed by the nearly unreadable look her best friend was giving her. Whatever signals she was giving off that kept Sabrina away were wildly out of her control right now. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and, hoping to look as put together as possible for someone who just had their head in a toilet moments ago, walked past her friend and out into the hallway.

There would, of course, be some explaining owed to her friends. Neither would ask right away, though. She'd have plenty of time to think of a lie. Something would come to her.

It always did.


	7. Chapter 7

**_Any of ya'll having trouble editing uploaded documents? This stupid scrolling thing just about drove me insane. Gah._**

* * *

Chapter 7

_"Can't you do anything right?"_

_Kelly froze in place and looked down at her foster mother. The decorative streamers she was setting up hung in several colorful ribbons, draped carefully over her left elbow and extending almost to the floor._

_"Look what you did!" Mrs. Hanover snapped. "They're crooked! Now I have to redo them all!"_

_Kelly turned her head and overlooked her handiwork of the past twenty minutes. It looked fine to her, but she was usually too stupid to notice when things were done correctly, she reasoned. She sighed and dropped her arms to her side, rustling the paper streamers sadly as she did._

_"I'm sorry." she said quietly. "Do you want me to do it again?"_

_Mrs. Hanover scoffed at her and rubbed her temples with one manicured hand. "No." she snapped. "Just-just forget it. Get down from there, I'll have to do it myself."_

_Kelly frowned. "I can do it again, however you like it."_

_"Just get down. You've done enough already."_

_With a sad, defeated little sigh, Kelly climbed down the ladder she had been standing on and meekly offered the brightly colored streamers to her foster mother. Mrs. Hanover snatched them from her and tossed them angrily onto one of the long, folding tables taking up most of the kitchen and dining room._

_The Hanovers were hosting a retirement party for one of James's co-workers that evening. All day the mood had been tense, and the stressed Hanovers' downright verbally abusive towards their foster daughter as they cooked, cleaned, and prepared for their guests. Kelly had been trying her hardest to be helpful, eager to please her new family and under the false assumption that favor could be won if she did._

_She was quickly learning that this would not be the case. At least not today._

_Feeling like a failure, Kelly rocked on her heels and watched her foster mother yank down the streamers she had so carefully arranged along the kitchen walls. When she finished, she grabbed the tangled streamers off of the table, slung them over her shoulder to climb the ladder, and began hastily replacing them. The new arrangement looked no different to Kelly, but what did she know?_

_"Is there anything else I can do?" Kelly asked hesitantly, hoping to redeem herself._

_Mrs. Hanover sighed in annoyance. "Set the tables. Do you think you can manage that?" she snapped sarcastically._

_Set the table. Easy enough._

_Eager to please, Kelly scurried off out of sight and returned a few minutes later with an armful of napkins and silverware. With her foster mother's back still to her, she began to quickly arrange them in front of every chair._

_Napkin, plate, glass, fork, spoon, knife. Napkin, plate, glass, fork, spoon, knife._

_Despite its monotonous easiness, she was concentrating hard on her task, determined to do something correctly and redeem herself. She was nearly done with the first table by the time Mrs. Hanover finished hanging the streamers in her hand and turned around._

_"Oh, Kelly!" she cried irritably._

_Kelly froze, still in the act of placing one of the shiny forks, and looked up uncertainly._

_"This is a party, Kelly!" Mrs. Hanover snapped, climbing down from the ladder. "An important party! Why are you using those napkins!"_

_Kelly had a few seconds to think about her mistake before her foster mother stormed over to her and angrily pushed her aside._

_"We have good napkins for things like this!" she scolded, waving one of the offending napkins in the girl's face. "These don't impress people!"_

_Kelly lowered her eyes and shrank back. "Oh." she stammered. "I'm sorry. I didn't kn-"_

_"And look at this!" Mrs. Hanover continued in outrage. "You put everything on the wrong side! Just thrown together like a truckstop diner!" She fell silent, realizing that Kelly had set out the wrong plates as well. "And these plates are all chipped! What's wrong with you! Are you stupid? They look awful!"_

_Kelly stared blankly at them, dumbfounded by the amount of mistakes she'd managed to make in such a short amount of time. __"I- I don't think they look awful." she whispered._

_Her innocent comment was intended to reassure her foster mother's pride in her possessions, ease her disdain for the plates, not to be defiant. She had only picked them because their pretty robin's egg blue color had appealed to her._

_But nonetheless, Mrs. Hanover took offense and narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Of course you don't, you little twit. You don't know anything. You've probably never had anything nice in your life." she sneered. "You wouldn't know nice things if they hit you on the head."_

_She pushed her way past Kelly and began angrily yanking the napkins out from under the silverware and balling them in her hands like trash. The girl watched her for a moment, still stinging from the cruel insults, before pushing it aside and stepping forward to help._

_She had gathered up a handful of silverware when the slight tinkling of metal against metal caught Mrs. Hanover's attention._

_"What are you doing?" she shouted in frustration. _

_Kelly stopped and took a step back. Her foster mother looked furious. She didn't hit often, but something told her she'd get slapped if she got too close._

_"Helping you?" she replied in a quiet, nervous voice._

_Mrs. Hanover snorted. "Helping?" she spat. "I needed the silverware there! No, I'm tired of your helping. You can't do anything right."_

_Kelly swallowed and let her gaze rest on the forks and knives in her hand. "I- I'm sorry, Mrs. Ha-"_

_"Sorry! That's all you ever are!" the angry, frazzled woman shouted at her. "Sorry, sorry, sorry! What good does it do to be sorry!"_

_She thrust her hand forward and grabbed at the silverware in her hands, meaning to yank it away, but Kelly wasn't expecting it and the sudden movement startled the already anxious little girl. She jerked back and instinctively flung her hands to her face, unintentionally letting the forks, knives, and spoons clatter to the floor in a silver heap. The girl watched in horror as the utensils bounced off of the linoleum and scattered under the table._

_A swift palm lashed out and stung the side of Kelly's face while she wasn't looking, sending her stumbling back with a surprised yelp of pain._

_"Stupid little girl!" Mrs. Hanover howled. "See what you did now?"_

_The color drained from Kelly's face and she immediately dropped to the floor to scoop up the fallen utensils. "I'm sorry!" she blurted out frantically. "I'm really sorry!"_

_"Just get out of here!" her foster mother hissed, lowering herself to her knees as well. When Kelly didn't immediately obey, she made a lunge at her. "Go away!" Mrs. Hanover snapped, swatting at the girl's hands. Realizing this was not the way to salvage the situation, Kelly jumped to her feet and stumbled away from her._

_While Kelly watched helplessly, her foster mother snatched up all of the forks and knives that had been dropped and then rose to her feet and slammed them on the table._

_"Now I have to wash all of these!" she yelled, giving Kelly another stinging open palmed blow to the arm. "You just- you just ruin everything! Go to your room!"_

_Kelly stood quietly, rubbing her sore upper arm, and willing the tears welling up in her eyes not to fall. "I'm sorry." she whispered in a quivering little voice. "I'll- I'll wash them."_

_Desperate to make amends, Kelly stepped forward and reached for the load of silverware. She was instantly rewarded with a hard thump on the head with one of the heavy spoons._

_"Don't you listen!" Mrs. Hanover screeched in indignation. "I don't have time to deal with you! Get out of my kitchen! Go to your room!"_

_"What's going on in here?"_

_Kelly whirled around to see her foster father standing behind her, his arms folded across his chest in annoyance. His wife's raised voice was very grating, even more so than his foster daughter's presence and hearing it usually put him in a foul mood._

_"Jim, get her out of here." Mrs. Hanover sighed wearily. "She's being a nuisance and I can't get anything done! The party is in two hours! Two hours! And I can't finish with her tagging along behind me destroying everything she touches!"_

_"So tell her to get out." Hanover suggested nonchalantly._

_"I tried!" his wife shot back. "She doesn't listen!"_

_Hanover let out a barking laugh. "She's a kid. You have to explain things."_

_Kelly shrank away from both of them as they argued, knowing better than to open her mouth. Her foster parents often talked about her as if she wasn't standing in front of them, but as much as she hated it, it would be unwise to voice a complaint._

_"Then explain it to her!" Mrs. Hanover cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation._

_By way of explanation, her foster father's big hand closed roughly around the back of Kelly's neck. "Go to your room." he growled at her. "And I better not see your face until I tell you to come out."_

_Without giving her a chance to respond, he yanked her away and gave her a hard shove in the direction of the staircase. She stumbled forward and nearly lost her balance twice, before regaining her footing._

_Her foster parents continued arguing, but Kelly couldn't bring herself to look back at them. Near tears now, and face hot with humiliation, she hurried up the stairs and to the loneliness of her bedroom. Once inside, she shut the door quietly and sat down on her bed, shoulders slumped in defeat. She'd be stuck in here until at least tomorrow morning, she thought dejectedly. The tears that had been burning in her eyes slowly leaked out and trailed twin paths down her flushed cheeks._

_No wonder her new parents hated her. She was a walking curse, ruining everything she touched and bringing out the worst in everyone._

_Why couldn't she do anything right?_

_

* * *

_

Kelly opened her eyes, halting her progression into the sad memory, and stared into the darkness.

There were voices coming from nearby. Two female voices talking quietly amongst themselves, loud enough to hear, though not quite loud enough to understand. But that wasn't terribly important now.

What the two voices were discussing didn't have to be guessed at. Kelly shut her eyes and fought the urge to groan in misery as the events of the day came rushing back to her in a foul, sweeping wave. Sabrina and Jill had yet to confront her on her strange behavior at the Hanover's home, but the hushed whispers and suspicious and concerned glances she'd caught them giving her since told her it was an inevitabilty. It was a miracle they'd let her go to bed without question. The reprieve wouldn't be long though, she knew. Undoubtedly, she would be the topic of discussion in the morning.

Sickness. That was the only option that came to mind and, weak as it was, she'd have to stick with it. Consistency. That was the only way. Stick to her guns and be consistent.

And then manage to keep her wits and act normal long enough for this all to blow over.

Kelly sighed unhappily to herself. How in the hell was she going to get through this?, she thought darkly to herself. The case could take days, weeks. They could be in Carson City all summer. Her face twisted into an involuntary grimace.

Tomorrow morning she'd have to drive to the prison and face James Hanover again. That would be an extraordinary challenging obstacle to overcome in this facade of normalcy she was trying so hard to build. If it was even possible.

His scowling face materialized in her head, eyebrows drawn together in anger, lips curled in his ever present sneer, and her stomach gave an unsettling lurch. Kelly frantically batted the image away, unable to handle even the merest thought of him.

She'd do it. She'd act normal. There was no other way.

Unwilling and unable to give him another thought, she instead focused her attention on the hushed voices coming from her right. An unexpected male voice joined the previous two and confusion startled Kelly up on one elbow.

The source of the voices both surprised and relieved her. Sabrina and Jill must have fallen asleep to the comforting drone of the television, she realized. It was still on, it's bluish glow casting flickering shadows all over the wall and ceiling.

Hoping to distract herself from the torrid of memories she was forced to relive everytime she closed her eyes, she shut off her mind and listened. A bit of concentration transformed the soft hum of voices and staticky background noise into an intelligible program. A commercial was ending and urgent percussive music floated out to her from the set. News theme music. It was all the same. She must have awoken sometime during the ten o' clock news broadcast.

Her eyes had become accustomed to the dim lighting since she'd awoken and though she couldn't see the news program, she could make out Sabrina, slumped over asleep in the next bed. Her sitting position and lapful of loose documents made it clear that falling asleep had not been in her immediate plans. Had she been staying up to watch the news? Maybe. That was like her.

Deciding to kill two birds with one stone and both distract herself while gathering a summary of current events for Sabrina in the morning, Kelly listlessly tuned in.

After forty five minutes and two commercial breaks though, she wished she'd hadn't. They had changed location, but it seemed news programs all over the world had only the same bleak and ugly things to report.

A convenience store had been robbed on the city's southside, the anchorman informed her in an overly somber baritone. A hate crime at a community center had employees and members furious. A set of twins nearly abducted while under the care of a scatterbrained babysitter. A young woman missing for weeks found murdered in a ditch. A high school vandalized by an unknown group of teenage thugs.

The whole world was filled with horrible people, Kelly noted with disgust.

But, besides their lawyers, none of them had people fighting for their cause the way James and Candace Hanover did. People like Sabrina and Jill, who were ignorant of the caliber of people they were employed under. And then were there people like her. People who knew exactly what they were doing.

The revelation made her roll over and turn her back to the screen, though she hadn't been able to see it from her spot to begin with.

Just seeing Candace Hanover again, being in that house, seeing it's familiar sights and smelling it's familar scent had turned her into a quivering, stuttering, vomiting mess. Kelly felt a surge of humiliation and tried to ignore the episode at the house earlier that evening.

In some ways, Mrs. Hanover's cruelty had left a bigger impact than Mr. Hanover's. At the orphanage, she had been able to sometimes protect herself with a clever mask of defiance and indifference. However, the defense mechanisms that worked with other children and Beemish did nothing for her in her later foster homes. Tossed into a new home where the rules of play were unclear, she had dissipated into a timid and meek little girl. It had been explained many times over that the secret to a happy life was happy foster parents and she had done her best to make that a reality.

It hadn't worked very well for the Hanovers, though. At first the government check had been enough, but as raising a child became more and more of a burden, the Hanover's indifference towards her gradually developed into resentment and then hate.

The Hanovers had absolutely destroyed her self esteem with their verbal abuse and constant stream of criticism. By the time she'd finally snapped and run away, she thought herself as stupid, worthless, and deserving of all the abuse she had endured as they'd told her she was. And though she'd moved on, the scars had remained.

It had taken a long time to reverse the effects of the Hanover's psychological abuse, and sometimes she wasn't sure that it ever could be fixed. She still battled with self esteem issues, something that drove Sabrina absolutely crazy.

Kelly's lips curled into a faint smile at the thought of Sabrina and her constant harping. She meant well, couldn't stand her best friend not taking credit for something she had done. Sabrina cared about her and so did Jill. They couldn't help but worry and ask questions where questions didn't belong.

They cared, yes, but right now she needed to be alone.

Kelly sighed and shifted uncomfortably under her blanket. Almost immediately afterwards, a gentle hand rested on top of her head.

"Hey, you feeling ok?" came a soft whisper from behind her.

Jill. Of course.

Kelly considered faking sleep for a moment to prevent Jill from asking her any more questions. But she was already shutting her and Sabrina out, worrying them, lying to them, and avoiding them enough as it was. Letting Jill worry all night was too mean even for the sneaky, deceitful person she had recently become. With a soft moan of reluctance, she pushed herself up off of her pillow and turned her head towards her friend in the darkness. She winced as she did.

Well, it appeared she wouldn't have to fake a headache. Her tired body had taken care of that for her.

Her half shut eyes focused on Jill's soft features in the moonlight. Her friend smiled happily and dropped into a crouch by her side.

"You awake?" she asked softly.

Kelly nodded her head and managed a faint smile. "Yeah. Sorry, Jill."

"For what?" Jill asked with a slight laugh. Her smile faded after a moment and melted into concern. "So, are you alright?"

"I'm ok. Just got sick I guess."

Jill nodded in sympathetic understanding, though her blue eyes remained unconvinced. "So you're feeling better now?"

"A lot better."

"I'm glad." Jill said quietly, though everything about her conveyed her doubtfulness. She bit her lip and stared for a moment without speaking and Kelly braced herself for what was coming. The pensive look on Jill's face usually let to a line of questioning and right now there was no believable method of escape. Out of sheer hope, Kelly closed her eyes and laid her head on the warm pillow she had been resting on, hoping Jill would take the hint and leave her alone.

But no such luck. Jill could not be deterred.

"Is something wrong, Kelly?" she asked gently.

Kelly kept her eyes closed as she answered.

"Not anymore." she whispered sleepily. "I guess it was the plane ride or-" she purposely yawned and then let the rest of her words trail off lazily, as if she was falling asleep. -" something didn't agree with me."  
She took a deep breath and went still, hoping her act would be enough.

It wasn't.

"You know you can talk to us if something is wrong, right?" Jill pressed, resting a supportive hand on Kelly's shoulder.

Kelly sighed and pulled away. Right now she didn't feel very deserving of affection. She felt like another person. The guarded twelve year old she had been who wore a false mask and purposely refused to let anyone get close to her for fear of revealing who she really was.

Jill frowned and stood up. "Kelly, what's wrong?" she asked, a bit more firmly.

"Nothing, Jill." Kelly sighed. "I'm just tired."

"You don't look just tired." Jill argued. "What is it? Is it this case? Me and Sabrina were talking earlier and we agreed that if this bothers you, then you don't h-"

"I can do my job, Jill!" Kelly snapped with more aggression in her voice than she intended. Her tone took Jill by surprise and Kelly immediately felt guilty at the hurt look that shadowered her friend's face. But there weren't words to fix it and trying would only prolong the conversation. And if she was going to hurt Jill's feelings there might as well be a reason.

Kelly rolled over in bed, giving Jill her back, and squeezed her eyes shut, though there was no way sleep would come back to visit tonight. Her head ached, her stomach churned and on top of it all, she now felt horrible for the way she had treated Jill.

To make matters worse Jill only sighed in defeat.

"Ok. Fine. You win." she whispered. With another heavy sigh, she walked away and turned the television off, pausing only a moment to clear away the papers in Sabrina's lap and shove her into a more comfortable position before padding back to Kelly's bed. She brushed a hand up and down her friend's back and then settled down under the covers of her own bed. "Goodnight then." she called softly from the darkness. "I love you."

Ugh.

Jill wasn't pulling any punches tonight.

Kelly rolled her eyes in disbelief. Just when she thought she couldn't feel like a more horrible person. Jill's words felt like a bat to the stomach and Kelly fought a brief yet intense struggle against bolting upright and just letting the truth come spilling out of her mouth. But that would be impossible.

She pushed away the idea altogether. And since the acceptable window of time had already passed to verbally return Jill's sentiment, unintentionally pushed Jill away as well.

Kelly swallowed the bitter taste in her mouth and closed her eyes. It had to be done, she told herself firmly. Her friends couldn't know. Nobody could ever know. But how was she going to face him tomorrow? How much longer could she do this? How long would her sanity hold out?

It didn't matter, she decided firmly. However long it took.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"See what I mean?" Jill whispered urgently.

Sabrina followed her gaze to Kelly's bed, where the suspicious act she was referring to was their friend merely mumbling something in her sleep before rolling over. She sighed and rubbed her face irritably. Jill had been enthusiastically spouting out her theories since they woke up half an hour ago, and even getting ready for the day wasn't distracting her enough to let it go. It was fast starting to get on her nerves. Sabrina glanced at the clock. It was only seven thirty, her morning coffee was yet to be had, and was Jill really still talking?

"Sabrina, you aren't listening to me!"

Yes. Yes she was.

"I'm listening, Jill." Sabrina sighed. "But look, you know how she is, you've seen this before. She flips out in her sleep sometimes, it's -" she paused, hunting for words, and then lightly tapped her temple with two fingers. "- I mean, the poor kid. She isn't- she's not right, ya know? But this isn't anything new."

Jill flopped on Sabrina's bed in frustration. "I don't think it's like that though. That's what I'm trying to tell you!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "Then try again, I don't get it.", she said wearily. She sat down next to Jill on her bed and continued brushing her hair.

An instant later Jill's frustration with the flippant response took the form of a flying pillow. The soft material smacked against the side of Sabrina's head, mussing her just combed hair and sending her brush sailing to the floor. Sabrina, long accustomed to such retaliation, only sighed.

"Jill, listen."she said wearily, leaning down to retrieve her fallen brush. "This case is just hard on her, that's all. She'll be ok."

Jill shook her head and cast an anxious glance towards Kelly's sleeping form. She'd had a rough night, and neither of her friends had the heart to wake her just yet. "Yeah, there's that, but doesn't it seem like she's hiding something?" she pressed. "Hasn't she been acting weird?"

"Well yes, but- I mean- Jill, this is just bothering her that's all. It hits pretty close to home."

"Then why doesn't she just say som-"

"Because she's Kelly! That's why!" Sabrina snapped, slamming the brush into the soft comforter with a thud. "She's not going to tell us anything! She's just going to shut down and brood until it's over or until she figures out how to deal with it!"

Jill rolled her eyes tolerantly. "Yeah, yeah I know she's Kelly. Listen, I tried to talk to her last night-"

"Why? You know she's not goin-"

"I know!" Jill cut her off in frustration. "Yes, I know! But, something is wrong! She got all weird on me when I tried to get her to talk about it. She's hiding something from us! Don't you see that?"

Sabrina sighed and rested a hand on Jill's shoulder. "Jill-" she began patiently. "This case is upsetting her. She won't talk about it and she won't ever admit it. Yes, I think she's hiding something. A bad memory, or maybe the lady reminds her of someone, I don't know." She pulled away and ran the brush through her hair a few more times before standing. "But I do know that she isn't going to tell us and if you keep pushing her, you're just going to piss her off. If she wants to talk about it later, then she will. But only when she's ready. So until then, just be nice to her and wait for her to come to us."

With a heavy sigh of irritation, Jill folded her arms in front of her chest. "She doesn't have to tell us, ya know. We can find out ourselves."

Sabrina stopped and turned around. "Jill-"

"We're detectives, Bri!"

"We're already on a case. Leave her alone."

"This isn't going to be as complicated as a murder case." Jill sighed. "Look, we'll just keep an eye on her, see what she does, and maybe she'll give us a clue to what's bothering her."

Sabrina rolled her eyes. "More than likely she's going to give you a black eye for snooping around her business."

Jill returned the eye roll in an over exaggerated parody. "I'm just trying to help her."

"She won't like it."

"She won't find out."

"I think this is all in your head. If you want to help her so bad, help me convince her to go to a pyschiastrist or something." Sabrina muttered. "That's what she really needs. I've been telling her for years."

Jill laughed derisively. "A shrink?" she asked disdainfully. "Now who's the one chasing rainbows?"

Shaking her head sadly, Sabrina ignored her best friend's last comment and wiggled on her shoes. "I'm gonna go get us some breakfast." she announced in an attempt to change the subject. "What do you want?"

"Answers."

With a weary groan, Sabrina snatched her keys off of the table and quickly slipped out the door. Jill watched her go, her arms still folded across her chest thoughtfully. Deep down, Sabrina probably knew she was right, she thought to herself. But Sabrina, being Sabrina, wasn't going to be the one to push Kelly into anything.

That was her job.

Jill rubbed her eyes and glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was probably time to wake up Kelly. She crossed the room, plopped herself down onto her bed, and rested her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Kelly, time to get up." she called softly, giving her a gentle shake.

Kelly moaned sleepily, but her eyelids fluttered open, revealing tired, bloodshot green eyes.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." Jill teased, affectionately ruffling her hair. "Rise and shine!"

Kelly dropped her face back down and grumbled something indecipherable into the soft fabric of her pillow. Jill observed her tired behavior with a frown and apologetically smoothed back the hair she had just mussed.

"You ok?" she asked.

"Fine." Kelly muttered into her pillow.

"You didn't sleep very well last night. Nightmares?"

Kelly shook her head and with a sleepy groan, pushed herself up on her elbows. She looked so miserable and exhausted, that Jill felt a pang of guilt for waking her. She moved her hand down to Kelly's back and gave her a friendly pat.

"You need to sleep in a little?" she asked gently. "Bri went to get breakfast just now. She won't be back for at least anoth-"

"I'm fine, Jill." Kelly yawned. She pulled away from Jill's touch and sat up to rub her eyes.

Jill frowned at her. "Are you sure you're ok? It seems like you didn't get a whole lot of sleep."

"Jill." Kelly said evenly. "I'm fine."

"Well, ok." Jill answered doubtfully. "If you need to talk about a-"

"It's nothing." Kelly sighed irritably. "I don't need to talk. I had a bad dream, that's all. Just let it go, Jill."

"You only do that when you're stressed out." Jill pointed out stubbornly.

Kelly grabbed up the clothes she had laid out for herself and stalked towards the bathroom. "I'm on a case. You never feel stressed on a case?" she tossed over her shoulder.

It was obvious by the way Kelly turned her back that she wasn't wanting or waiting for a reply from Jill. But she got one nonetheless.

"Yes, I do. Do you always act this weird on a case?"

Kelly noticeably stiffened, but squared her shoulders and continued into the bathroom as if she hadn't heard. Jill watched the bathroom door click shut before turning and driving her fist into Kelly's pillow in frustration.

Despite what her friend said, she was hiding something.

And with or without Sabrina's help, she was going to find out.

* * *

An hour and a half later, the three girls were crowded together in the back of a musty taxicab, speeding toward the prison where James Hanover was waiting. The atmosphere in the backseat was tense and thick with nervous energy, though for two entirely different reasons. This meeting was important and conversation was unusually sparse, each girl busying herself with a mental checklist of the wide assortment of different scenarios that could possibly play out to either change the bleak outlook of their case, or in Kelly's case, to completely unhinge the life she'd built for herself.

The prison drew ever closer, and after a few minutes of trying to catch Sabrina's eye, Jill finally succeeded. She arched an eyebrow and discreetly tilted her head toward Kelly. "Look!" she mouthed silently.

Sabrina promptly turned around and busied herself looking out the window.

Feeling slighted, Jill crossed her arms in a huff and fixed her gaze on her shoes.

Couldn't she see it?

It was plain as day. She had to be blind, Jill thought moodily. She let her gaze cautiously travel back up to Kelly's face and quickly realized that her discretion was not necessary. Kelly's mind was certainly not in this cab with them.

Her skin tone looked almost green, as if she was seconds away from sending her breakfast splattering all over the back of the passenger seat. Both of her knees bounced anxiously for a few seconds at a time and then abruptly stopped, as if constantly reminding herself not to look so jittery.

Jill turned her head, wanting to catch Sabrina's eye again. She stared hopefully at the back of her friend's head for a few moments, silently willing her to turn around, before giving up with a defeated sigh. If Sabrina didn't want to be reasonable, then what could she do about it? She leaned back and stared off into space to sulk for the remainder of the ride.

But an hour and a half later, even Sabrina couldn't help but notice Kelly's strange behavior.

The three girls had already checked in at the county jail, filled out paper work, endured a routine search, and talked briefly to the warden, before being granted access to James Hanover. Sabrina walked between her two friends, a few steps behind the muscular guard that was leading them to the interrogation room. She didn't mind his quick pace. Due to the nature of the crime Hanover was being held for and their intentions of setting him free, they hadn't been given the warmest of welcomes and any errant glares of disgust from the big officer could go ahead and remain unseen.

Just do your job, Sabrina, she told herself. Just do your job.

She took a deep breath, held it for a second, then let it out slowly. Why did this case have her so anxious?, she wondered briefly. To see how Jill and Kelly were holding up, she snuck a sideways glance at them both.

Jill appeared as normal as she could get. She seemed slightly irritated and within the few seconds she was being watched, snuck three separate glances at Kelly. But she had been doing that all day. Jill was fine.

Sabrina wasn't able to control the bewildered expression that contorted her features when her gaze found Kelly.

So that was why Jill kept looking at her.

Though as usual, Kelly's facial expression was carefully neutral, everything else about her absolutely screamed anxiety, and it was hard to tell if she was on the verge of a panic attack or an explosive bout of rage. Her arms were tightly folded across her chest, and despite the stuffy conditions, there were goosebumps rising noticeably on her exposed skin. A sheen of sweat glistened on her cheeks and forehead, contradicting the goosebumps and the way she hugged herself as if warding off cold.

Almost as if she really was sick.

But, this behavior had come and gone too many times for that to be the case.

"You have fifteen minutes."

The gruff voice jolted Kelly out of her trance. Thankfully the big policeman had spoken, or she would have carelessly kept walking past the door he was holding open and continued down the hallway. Her green eyes stared at the opened door and her heartbeat began to quicken, torn between seeing and getting over with, or avoiding all together who was sitting just beyond it.

He would be there. Her former foster father. The guiding force behind so many nightmares, so many horrible memories.

Her stomach gave a sickening lurch, but this time she had planned ahead and skipped breakfast.

"Thank you, officer." one of her friends responded politely. She couldn't tell who. She didn't care who.

The contents of her stomach rolled again, sending the unpleasant and acidic taste of bile burning the back of her throat. The intolerant policeman opened the door wider and Sabrina then Jill slipped inside.

And though everything inside of her screamed and begged not to, wanted her to turn and tear back down the hallway as far away from him as possible, Kelly took a deep breath and followed.

It was almost anti climactic seeing him again.

He wasn't yelling violent threats or swinging a belt the way she'd seen him in her dreams the past ten years. Instead, James Hanover sat quietly in his faded blue prison garb, looking almost small compared to the large white folding table he was sitting at, his hands cuffed in front of him and a steaming paper cup of coffee to his right. The clean shaven face she remembered was shadowed by a few days growth of beard and seemed tired and listless. He looked older. There was more graying at his temples and his hair line, already starting to recede years ago, was now noticeably farther back, revealing a shiny patch of smooth skin above his forehead. Just like his wife, wrinkles creased the skin at the corner of his eyes and mouth, giving him a wiser, almost fatherly appearance though Kelly knew he didn't have it in him. She couldn't see the rest of him due to the table, but judging from his thick neck and untoned arms, his beer gut was probably bigger than ever.

Yes, he was definitely older. Probably fifty or very close to it by now. He looked every year of it, though there was no telling how much of his haggard appearance was due to the stressful past few weeks.

Her heart continued to thud frantically in her chest, but she forced herself to slowly let out the breath she'd been holding since stepping inside. It was over with. She'd seen him. They would sit across from each other. He'd talk, answer questions. She'd pretend to listen. And he wouldn't hurt her. Couldn't hurt her.

But would be recognize her?

Any calming effect her controlled exhale had given her was immediately erased in light of this new and disturbing thought.

Hanover stood and gave them his most charming smile.

"Hey, thanks for coming, ladies." he greeted them politely. Because they were manacled together, he extended both arms, and even though she was in the middle and farthest from him at the moment, offered a handshake to Kelly first.

She stared at his extended hand for a beat, before her brain took over for her and made her accept. Reacting had always kept her alive. Reacting not only quickly, but correctly. And she had gotten so good at it, the process blurred by, enabling her to act without being aware of it . Survival mode had kicked in, and later Kelly would be grateful.

Now, however, she wanted more than anything to yank her hand away from his warm and slightly sweaty grip. His touch made her skin crawl, it burned into her, unwelcome, unwanted, and dirty.

"Nice to meet you." she heard herself say. Hanover shook her hand warmly and his lips moved, though Kelly neither heard or listened to his reciprocation.

She was grateful when her hand was free and immediately clasped it behind her back.

Hanover greeted Jill and Sabrina in the same manner and then sat down heavily in his seat. They had both introduced themselves, and she had not, she realized. Normally this lack of courtesy would have appalled her, but this situation was different. Maybe that was best.

He hadn't recognized her. Not yet anyway. But there was still time.

On either side of her, Sabrina and Jill pulled out a folding chair and eased themselves into their seats. Kelly looked around and was surprised to find that she was already sitting.

"So, I have to be honest." Hanover started with a forced chuckle. "You three are not exactly what I expected."

The girls shared a look that would have extended to Kelly had she not been staring at the wooden surface of the table, before Jill flashed him a winning smile. "We get that a lot." she said airily.

"I'm not complaining though." Hanover added quickly. He sat down and propped both elbows on the table, looking as business like and in control as his surroundings would allow. "So- where do we start, ladies?" he asked pleasantly.

Sabrina cleared her throat and slapped her notepad on the table. "Well, uh- Mr. Hanover- we have to be honest with you too." Her face took on a serious expression. "This doesn't look good. The only hope we have right now is that the police and your defense team overlooked some details about your case."

Hanover was quiet for a moment before nodding grim acceptance.

"We've already talked to your wife." Jill added. "She wasn't able to think of anything. Is there anything at all you can tell us that you didn't tell the police already?"

Hanover sighed and shook his head. "I told them everything." he muttered with a defeated sigh. "Everything I could remember."

"Ok then." Sabrina replied quickly. "We have your case details, but why don't we go just through everything again. From the beginning. That whole day from the moment you woke up until the moment the police picked you up. Don't leave anything out."

Hanover sighed and rubbed his face wearily. "Ok, well- listen, it had been a stressful week at work. I hadn't gotten a whole lot of sleep the night before and she ruined the eggs at breakfast-"

Sabrina, a curious look on her face, raised a hand to stop him.

"I'm sorry- I- is this relevant?"

Hanover tilted his head back and groaned. "I hit her that morning, ok? I didn't mean to, but I was frustrated and she burned my hand with the plate." He nervously ran a hand through his thinning hair. "I-I just snapped, you know?" he blurted out, looking distressed and near tears. "I slapped her- I didn't mean- I wasn't thinking- I just- just lashed out because she burned my hand."

Sabrina and Jill shared a skeptical look.

"I know, believe me, I know what it looks like." Hanover insisted urgently. "But, I'm not a violent man, I swear to you. I'd never hit her before- I apologized- I felt horrible all day- I just- I mean, it just happened. I didn't even think about it and I wish to God I could take it back."

He moaned and buried his face in his hands, a perfect snapshot of guilt and remorse, a man rapidly losing control. "And I know I hurt her, because I cut my knuckle on her tooth when I hit her." he admitted miserably. "When they- when they found her-the police- they saw her bruises, the bruise on my hand, and they cried abuse." He let out a shuddering sigh and raised his head, revealing glassy, bloodshot eyes and features wracked with shame.

"I hit her that morning, as much as I hate myself for it-" he choked out, his voice strained unrecognizable. "But I didn't kill her- I liked her- she was a good kid, you know? I miss her- I'm just- I don't even know what to think about all of this-"

Sabrina nodded, her expression unreadable, and once again held up her hand to quiet his ramblings. "I understand, Mr. Hanover, just- just tell us what happened after breakfast."

Hanover, seeming as if he was struggling for composure, nodded and took a shaky sip of his coffee. "Sorry- it- I just wish that hadn't been the last time I saw her." he whispered in a soft, quavering voice.

Jill and Sabrina nodded solemn understanding.

And Kelly fought every urge she had to scream. To fly out of her chair, flip over the table and spill his tiny paper cup of coffee, to scream at him, beat her fists into his smug face until she couldn't lift them anymore. To demand that the lying bastard tell them the truth.

Because he killed her. He killed her, he killed her, he killed her!

The words tangled together in her head, bouncing and twisting around every thought she had. To him, she was just another person to fool. He didn't recognize her, didn't realize she knew the monster that he was, that she had, at one time, been his helpless victim. And it had to stay that way. Had to.

He was lying through his teeth, her friends were eating it up and she couldn't say a goddamn thing.

She tasted the slight metallic taste of blood and realized that she had been clenching the tip of her tongue between her jaws.

"Tell us everything." Jill said gently.

Hanover set his paper cup down and took a deep breath. "Um- after that whole incident- I went to work just like normal." He paused and scratched his chin nervously. "But I wasn't really into it- I just felt- I don't know, just upset about what happened that morning. I left early. Told my boss I was sick and left."

"And where did you go?"

"Honestly, Ms. Munroe, I'm not really sure." he admitted meekly. "I went to a bar, not one I usually go to just in case someone I work with saw me. And then-" He smiled sadly and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm sure you've had those kind of nights."

"Not for awhile." Sabrina answered after a beat of contemplative silence. "And of course, they never got me in prison." She sighed and leaned forward across the table. "Mr. Hanover, you have to think. Now, police speculation says you went home where you found Becky. She cut school that day. Police said she was packing clothes to run away when you ran into her. Tell us about that."

Hanover shook his head. "I did go home to change clothes. I didn't see her there. I thought she was at school."

"She wasn't." Sabrina picked up quickly. "School registrar has her marked absent on the day she died."

"I know that now." Hanover sighed. "I was only home a few minutes. She might've been in her room, I didn't check. She was probably too upset about that morning to go to school." His face took on a heart wrenching look of despair. "I scared her. Because of me and my temper." he whispered. "If I hadn't hit her, she'd have gone to school like normal and she'd still be here."

"There's no use in dwelling on what happened." Jill consoled him, genuine pity in her eyes. "Keep going. The only way to catch her killer is to get the police to start looking again. Where did you go after you went to your place?"

Hanover sniffled and convincingly wiped at his glassy eyes. And ever the compassionate person, Jill dipped her hand into her purse and produced a tissue, which she handed to him with a kind smile. He gave her a watery smile of thanks in return, and the interrogation paused so that he could gingerly dab at the corner of his eyes with the soft tissue.

Kelly gritted her teeth and stared at him, dark and ugly hate eating at her, clenching and unclenching her fists below the table. He'd already won Jill over with his lies. Just like he won over the people at the foster agency, her social worker, curious bystanders. People were a means to an end for him. To be used to get what he wanted. She swallowed and was reminded by the taste of blood in her mouth that she was still biting her tongue.

"I'm not quite sure where I went after that." Hanover admitted softly. "If I could then- then I'd have some kind of alibi. I was drunk, I drove around town for a few hours to kill time-" He stopped and winced at his poor choice of words. "-you know, to waste time so my wife wouldn't know I had left work early."

Sabrina nodded thoughtfully and then reached into her bag and pulled out the city map Bosley had given them. Her long slender hands spread it out over the table and smoothed its many worn creases.

"Ok-" she started, plucking a red marker from her purse. "I want you to draw an X where your house is, the bar you went to, your work, and any other place you think you may have gone. If we can comb the area and just get a few people to verify that what you're saying is the truth, then we might have a case."

Hanover nodded glumly and did as he was asked.

Kelly eyes never left his hands, listened to the marker squeak over the worn paper of the city map, and felt a rage she hadn't felt in years bubbling up inside of her.

They shouldn't be here. This was a sick twist of fate that had them here in this little white room with a lying murderer. Was this some kind of test? Some devious plot to unhinge her from the reality she had grown accustomed to and send her hurtling back to the dark past she had worked so hard to leave behind? Her eyes unconsciously narrowed at the pen in Hanover's hand.

He was writing slowly, deliberately, making the marker squeak in a way that irritated Kelly to no end. On purpose probably. Maybe he did recognize her.

Seconds before she snapped and gave in to the urge to leap across the table and jam the offending marker into his throat, he was finished. He calmly set the marker down and slid the entire map back to Sabrina.

"There you go, Ms. Duncan." he said quietly. "What are you planning to do with this?"

Sabrina folded up the map and absently handed the marker back to Jill before answering. "Well, in a few seconds we're going to get a picture of you, and when it's developed, we're going to take it to every place we can find and see if anyone recognizes you and can testify your whereabouts during the time Rebecca Saunders is thought to have been killed."

Hanover nodded slowly and leaned back in his seat.

"So-" Sabrina said, pulling up her thin, rectangular camera. "-smile."

Hanover managed a faint half grin and sat up to allow Sabrina to take his pictures. The device clicked three times, before she nodded her head in thanks and returned it to her purse, letting the big man return to his former slouching posture.

"It's a long shot." Jill said solemnly. "But it's a starting point for us." She folded her hands in front of her and leaned forward. "What also would help is if you could tell us about any suspicious or dangerous people Becky might have been hanging out with."

Kelly was suddenly glad she was still biting her tongue.

While she fought the urge to comment, Hanover stared at the ceiling for a few moments before sighing heavily and shaking his head. "We had a good relationship, us and Becky, but there were a lot of times that she stayed after school or went somewhere without us knowing. You know, normal teenager stuff. If I knew about someone dangerous I would have made sure she stayed away from them."

"So, she told you things?" Sabrina asked.

"No, not necessarily. I only met one of her friends. She kept to herself. Just a normal teenager, you know."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow and jotted down a few notes before looking back up. "Do you remember her friend's name?"

"Kim." Hanover answered immediately. "Kim- uh-" he shut his eyes tight as if desperately trying to recall something and then shook his head, as if the information had eluded him. "Something Polish sounding, I don't remember. I only met her once a few months ago."

"That's alright." Jill reassured, reaching forward to pat his hand. "That's a start. We'll go to the school and ask around. One of her friends might know something."

"I hope so." Hanover whispered.

Sabrina scribbled down a few more notes before raising her head and tapping her pen thoughtfully against her chin. "Well, Mr. Hanover, we have enough to keep us busy tomorrow." Her expression took on an appropriately somber note. "Now, I'll level with you- this looks bad. Really bad." she admitted grimly. "If we manage to find some kind of lead, we'll let you know. But for now, you really need to think very hard about exactly where you were during those few hours you were gone from work."

Hanover inhaled sharply and groaned. "I'll do that Ms. Duncan, but I can't promise that I'll come up with anything."

Jill smiled sympathetically. "Just try. If you're innocent then you have nothing to worry about, right?" she reassured him. "We'll be in touch and let you know if we find anything today or tomorrow."

"Thank you." Hanover muttered, his voice now thick with gratitude. He wiped his face and then stood up after Jill and Sabrina began grabbing their purses in preparation for departure. Kelly, realizing she was now the only one sitting, quickly climbed to her feet as well. Her legs and arms felt numb and tingly, the result of unknowingly tensing her muscles the past fifteen minutes.

"Thank you so much." he said earnestly. He reached forward to shake Sabrina's hand. "Ms. Duncan." he said with a nod. He released her hand and took Jill's outstretched one. "Ms. Munroe."

Jill nodded and flashed him a smile which he returned politely before extending his big meaty hand toward Kelly.

She had a brief moment of panic, but there wasn't time to dwell on it.

A flash of confusion passed over the big man's features before he smiled.

"And I don't believe I caught your name, Ms.-" he said, purposely trailing off to give Kelly the chance to fill in the blank.

She did so quickly, as to not arouse suspicion. If he was going to recognize her at all it would be now.

"Garrett." she muttered.

Hanover grinned at her, his dark brown eyes flicking up and down her form appreciatively. "Is there a first name to go with that, Ms. Garrett?"

If he thought she hadn't noticed his lecherous glance, he was mistaken. Kelly forced her jaw to unclench enough to answer.

"Kelly."

Hanover smiled broadly and winked at her. "Well, thank you Kelly Garrett. Nice to meet you all." He held her hand a bit longer and then let his fingers trail over hers slowly as he released.

Kelly was halfway back down the hallway before she was able to trust herself to take a breath without losing composure completely. Her stomach rolled and hot bile blasted up from her stomach and into her mouth. She swallowed hard and forced it back down, leaving only the rancid taste in her mouth. Sabrina and Jill were talking, but at the moment she couldn't spare the ounce of concentration it would take to even pretend to be listening.

Her hand felt dirty and she longed to run into the restroom and scrub it raw, until it bled, until the surface was scraped off, until every trace of him was off of her skin and swirling down the drain.

Her name meant nothing to him. Just as she hadn't.

She unconsciously wiped her hand over and over on the front of her pants.

But there were some things that just never changed.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"What?"

Sabrina stuck her straw into her mouth and waited patiently for Jill to repeat whatever indecipherable statement she had just said through the huge wad of chewed up French fries in her mouth.

Jill rolled her eyes and held up a hand while she hurriedly chewed and swallowed her food.

"I said, he seems like a nice guy." she repeated. She took another bite out of her burger immediately after as if making up to her mouth the few seconds it had not been full.

Sabrina shrugged and watched her friend chew. "Yeah, nice enough I guess. You think he did it?"

Grateful for the yes or no question, Jill pondered for a moment before slowly shaking her head. She hurriedly swallowed again to free her mouth for speaking.

"Looks like a sloppy job by the Carson City P.D." she said quickly. "I mean, the kid's room hadn't even been checked. For all we know, she planned to run away and picked the wrong person to do it with. They saw one bruise on her face and just jumped to conclusions."

Sabrina nodded thoughtfully. "Could be that." she agreed. "The guy didn't have anything worse than a parking ticket on his record." She took another sip of her drink. "But neither does the Zodiac Killer for all we know. We just have to wait and see what we can come up with."

Jill shrugged her shoulders in casual acceptance and popped her last bite of burger into her mouth.

"What do you think, Kell?" she mumbled, wiping her hands.

Upon hearing her name, Kelly jerked her eyes away from the rapidly cooling food on her plate, embarassed at having been caught tuning out her friends.

"Huh?"

Jill sighed irritably and swallowed, thinking Kelly had simply been unable to understand her. "I said what do you think about that Hanover guy? You think he did it?"

"Oh." Kelly said quietly. As an excuse to busy herself, she took a quick sip from her paper cup of cola and forced it down a throat that felt too tight and dry to swallow even liquid. "I- I don't know what to think yet." she mumbled when she was able.

"Nothing at all?" Jill laughed. "I don't believe it."

Kelly glared at her friend, though Jill was too busy picking fries off of Sabrina's plate to notice. She forced down another gulp of watery cola and tried to look as unaffected by the question as possible. "Fine. I don't trust him." she admitted vaguely.

Sabrina grinned and tossed a fry towards her. "You don't trust anybody." she teased.

"Well-" Jill pointed out cheerily. "Charlie must trust him or else he wouldn't have put us on this case."

At this comment, Kelly found herself unable to hold her tongue any longer. She pushed her drink aside and narrowed her eyes at Jill. "Charlie doesn't know him. He's a friend of a friend. He doesn't know anything about this guy."

"And you do?" Jill challenged, taking note of the slight hint of hostility in Kelly's tone.

Kelly was immediately interested in her drink again. She bent forward, captured the straw in her mouth and drank quietly for several seconds, her eyes fixed on the cup in front of her.

"No, I don't." she admitted finally.

"Well see?" Jill sang sweetly. "Innocent until proven guilty."

"You're right." Kelly placated, more to end the conversation than to agree.

She hadn't meant for her tone to be harsh, but she was irritated and stressed, and some of those turbulent emotions seeped into her voice. Not a lot, but Jill was always quick to pick up on now wasn't the time to call her on it. Instead, she shot Sabrina a knowing look.

"I think we just need to assume he's innocent." Sabrina sighed, purposely avoiding eye contact with Jill to escape the look she knew was being cast her way. "Jill's right. If Charlie even took the case, there has to be something to work with."

"So where should we start?" Jill piped up. "The school to talk to Becky's friends? His neighborhood? Where he works? The bar he went to?"

"Why not all three?"

Both Jill and Sabrina, having grown accustomed to Kelly's troubled silence the past few days, both turned to her in surprise.

"Uh- that's a good idea, Kell." Sabrina stammered. She looked between her two friends and waved her hand. "We can split up. Where do you two want to go?"

Jill shrugged. "I'll go to the school."

"I'll go to the neighborhood." Kelly offered. "And his work is on the way, so I'll stop by there first."

Sabrina nodded. "So that leaves me with the bar, huh?" She wiped her mouth with her napkin, then wadded it up and tossed it into her basket with the remnants of her lunch. "Well?" she said, grabbing for her purse. "Shall we?"

Jill giggled and tossed a fry at her. "Let's. And try to control yourself. It's only noon." she teased.

Sabrina narrowed her eyes playfully in response and stood. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be working without you two. There's no reason to drink." She shuffled away from Jill's attempt to kick her and then smiled. "C'mon, let's get out of here."

Jill and Kelly followed suit, and the three girls paid their ticket and walked back outside in the warm June sunshine to make the short walk to the rental car company, where the car Charlie had provided for them would be waiting.

Back at the hotel, the girls briefly planned out the rest of day. Because they would be separated, the three decided to rendezvous back at the hotel for dinner to discuss whatever findings their individual excursions had unearthed. A few minutes was all it took before the girls were prepared and ready to leave.

Because she had the most places to visit, it was more practical to give Kelly the rental car, leaving Sabrina and Jill, each with only one destination, to the mercy of public transportation.

With the meager portion she had eaten of her lunch churning uncomfortably in her stomach, Kelly absently waved to Sabrina and Jill and guided the silver Chevy out of the motel parking lot and towards the freeway. As the motel rapidly faded in the distance, Kelly glanced at the empty passenger and back seat and heaved a little sigh of relief. Since seeing Hanover that morning, she'd been longing for a few moments of peace to process everything she'd heard, to not have to worry if she was fidgeting or looked upset to her friends. She needed to be alone.

Normally, she counted herself quite lucky to have her two coworkers and her two best friends be the same two people. Cases, no matter how trying, were made easier because she enjoyed spending time with them. They knew each other better than anyone did, their individual talents, knowledge, and strengths were perfect compliments and because of it, they worked extremely well together.

A pang of guilt made Kelly's already queasy insides feel even worse.

Yes, they were an amazing team. But Jill and Sabrina didn't know as much about her as they thought they did. And they couldn't.

So, as much as she loved her friends, working alone was the only way she was going to be able to do her job.

That's all it was, she told herself fiercely. Just a job, like all the other cases she'd worked on. Knowing the client made no difference.

Knowing he was guilty and that they were wasting their time made no difference either.

And if they could somehow exonerate him, setting a monster back onto the streets of Carson City did not concern her.

That thought feebly trying to imbed itself in her mind, Kelly attempted to swallow the tightness out of her throat and concentrated on driving.

Her first destination would be Hanover's place of employment. James Hanover had been no proud father, and she was certain that none of his coworkers had ever seen her as a child, and had no way of recognizing her as an adult.

If Sabrina and Jill finished their task quickly, tomorrow they would follow new leads and leave Kelly to finish whatever places she'd not had not had time to visit. And though not being thorough was not in her nature, she would make sure to leave at least two places unvisited to require another split up.

Hanover's coworkers may not have ever seen her, but she had wandered the streets, done too many odd jobs in exchange for spare change for her neighbors not to have. And if there were any neighbors left over that had known her as a twelve year old, there was a chance they might recognize her adult face. Sneaking around behind her two friends' backs didn't feel good, but being called out by a well meaning neighbor in front of Sabrina and Jill was absolutely not going to happen.

If she was the one stuck questioning the neighbors, she would simply deny any accusations. There were plenty of women with dark hair and green eyes. She could be anyone.

Two exits past Hanover's work, Kelly realized she had been too lost in thought to remember what she was doing. With a muttered curse, she exited the freeway, changed direction and righted her course.

Questioning her foster father's coworkers would be a trying task. But if there was evidence to be found there, she would find it.

And set a horrible man free.

The thought made her pop a piece of minty gum in her mouth, hoping to settle her stomach. Her work ethic had been spiraling out of control the past few days, negligence, avoidance, and doubt seeping in where they usually never did. The rules were constantly changing on her, and it was exhausting to have to keep adapting. Because she still had a job to do.

Kelly sighed and rubbed the spot between her eyes, where a massive headache was starting to form.

For once in her life, she hoped to fail.

* * *

"Oh Jill, just stop!"

Jill groaned her irritation and dramatically threw her head back into the headrest. "I'm telling you, Bri!" she repeated for eighth time. "She did it on purpose because she's up to something!"

Sabrina closed her eyes and wearily rubbed her temples in both hands, silently praying for an extra few minutes of patience.

"Jill-" she started evenly. "Let it go."

Jill gave her friend's shoulder an impatient shove. "Why don't you want to admit it!" she whined. "She is hiding something from us! Don't you think we should know!"

Sabrina shoved her back. "No!" she snapped. "She's upset and she doesn't want us to see that. How long have you known her again?"

"Long enough to know when she's hiding something!"

Both girls turned at the sudden throat clearing from the front seat.

The cab driver, having grown awkward by the girls' bickering, raised an eyebrow at them through the rearview mirror.

"Um-" he started slowly. "Almost here, ladies. Ok if I drop you off at the front?"

Jill and Sabrina shared a bewildered look, and quickly pressed their faces to their respective windows. Were they already at the school?

"Sure- the front is good." Sabrina answered for them both.

The cabbie grunted and returned his gaze to the road in front of him.

"Look, just do this for me, ok?" Jill whispered harshly. "I'm gonna do it no matter what you say! Follow her with me. I bet we figure something out."

Both Sabrina and the cabbie let out an exasperated sigh, both of which Jill completely ignored.

"Trust me on this!" she urged. "I know she's hiding something! If it wasn't something big, she would be able to hide it better. I think it's serious!"

Sabrina rolled her eyes and wondered briefly what the going punishment was for opening the door and shoving her best friend out of a moving vehicle. Probably a fine at the very least. The cabbie might even vouch for her.

"Sabrina!" Jill snapped, batting at her knee. "Stop ignoring me!"

"I'm not ignoring you." Sabrina sighed, turning away irritably. "Oh, I'm trying, but it's not working."

Jill narrowed her eyes. It had come down to this. Sabrina had given her no choice.

It was time to play her trump card.

"Sabrina, what if this is serious, huh?" she said quickly, dropping her voice to an urgent whisper. "What if she's in trouble and something happens to her? You'll never be able to forgive yourself."

The comment had exactly the effect Jill had desired. Sabrina noticeably stiffened, the thought obviously occurring to her for the first time.

"I know you wouldn't." Jill continued, grabbing her friend's hand desperately. "Maybe she needs our help, Bri. C'mon, you gotta be in this with me."

Sabrina muttered a few curses to herself and looked away, but her posture and demeanor loudly broadcasted to Jill that the battle had been won.

"Thanks, Bri!" Jill said, flashing a victorious smile. She threw her arms around Sabrina's neck and gave her a friendly peck on the cheek. "You're the best!"

Sabrina groaned and untangled herself from Jill's grip. "Yeah, yeah, just remember we're on a case too." she muttered, pushing her friend away. "So you better hope we aren't wasting our time with this."

"If we are, I'll make it up to you." Jill insisted immediately. "If it's nothing, I'll make you dinner for a week."

Sabrina pondered the offer for a moment before folding her arms across her chest and narrowing her eyes at her friend.

"Two weeks." she said firmly.

Jill's smile only broadened. "Deal."

"The- uh- the meter's running, ladies." the cabbie called from the front seat. "Are you going to get out?"

Jill and Sabrina shared another surprised look. Their cab was idling in front of the main entrance of the local junior high. How long had they been sitting here?

To the cabbie's dismay, only Jill grabbed up her purse to leave. She fished out a few bills and with a coy, toothy grin, handed them to the cab driver.

"Thanks, big guy." she purred. As his face blushed, and he mutely took his bills, Jill raised her eyes to her friend and pointed to her watch before turning and jogging away.

Sabrina smiled faintly and waved her off. Meet back at six. Got it, Jill, she said to herself.

"Where am I taking you, miss?" the cabbie sighed wearily.

Sabrina glanced up at the reflection of his eyes in the rearview mirror, and felt momentarily insulted by the waning tolerance in them. They hadn't been that annoying.

"Bar at 6th and Main." she answered.

The cabbie rolled his eyes and noisily shifted the car into gear. Sabrina lurched forward a bit as they began moving again and then settled in her seat for the remainder of the surprisingly short drive that separated the school and the local bar.

She'd talk to the owner, the regulars, the employees, maybe some of the patrons that looked promising. Then meet back for dinner with Jill and Kelly to regroup and share anything they had learned. Hopefully, between the three of them, they'd be able to find something to go on to get this case closer to being over.

Sabrina sighed and stared at the unfamiliar scenery flying by her window.

This was the first time she felt a pressing need to quickly put an end to a job. And though she wasn't sure why, something about this whole case didn't set right with her and Kelly's sudden strange behavior wasn't helping. Jill had been correct about that. Kelly had been acting strangely, she admitted to herself. As much as she had been trying to convince herself otherwise, she had known from the beginning that Jill was right. But instead of blowing over like she had hoped, the situation had only gotten steadily worse as the case progressed.

That probably wasn't a coincidence. Kelly's behavior might just be something as simple as being forced to relive some bad memories from her childhood. She hoped. The case did hit somewhat close to home with her poor friend. Whatever it was, apparently she had just agreed that her and Jill would find out later.

But right now she needed to concentrate on what she was doing, because the sooner this case was over the better.

She looked up in time to catch another annoyed glare from her driver in the rearview mirror, and realized that she had been unconsciously thumping the back of his seat with her foot. Instead of stopping though, she sent a glare of her own right back at him. Hopefully the drive wasn't too much farther. He was one annoyance that she didn't feel like dealing with right now.

And hopefully, Jill had tipped him, because she sure as hell wasn't going to.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

_"Candace, make sure you tell him- move, Kelly!- to get there fifteen minutes early."_

_Mrs. Hanover turned away, waving her husband off irritably. "Uh huh- Think we should meet at six forty five just to be safe?" she conveyed into the phone. She paused a moment and then smiled. "Fantastic. We'll see you soon."_

_Kelly flattened herself against the wall to avoid colliding with her foster mother as she stormed by. Though it Mrs. Hanover who wasn't paying attention, she was stressed, frustrated with her husband, and even an accident on her part was to sure to get innocent Kelly a harsh reprimand. _

_She caught a strong whiff of perfume as Mrs. Hanover blew past her and made a face. She could taste it, it was so overwhelming. Her foster mother was wearing entirely too much, but as always the woman lived to impress. _

_Tonight's opportunity was a__ dinner engagement with another couple and at the moment, plans weren't going as scheduled. __Hanover had come home late, forcing them to call their friends to reschedule and because of her need to impress, Mrs. Hanover was absolutely livid. Since Kelly was the only other person in the house, she had taken out all her frustration on the poor girl. From the moment Kelly had come home from school she'd been yelled at, scolded, and swatted each and every time they were forced to cross paths._

_Kelly, who'd decided after an hour that she'd be safer hiding in her room, had just been driven to the kitchen by hunger a few minutes before Hanover returned. Her caretakers were going out for dinner and, though she'd only known them a little over two months, she wasn't naïve enough to think they would either bring her along or make any other arrangements for her before they left. So, because Mrs. Hanover wasn't as strict as her husband was when it came to opening the fridge, the girl had taken the opportunity to find something to eat herself. Unfortunately, no sooner had she sat down at the table with a ham sandwich when Hanover came bursting through the front door, cursing everything from co-workers and traffic, to the kid next door who rode his bike in the street._

_Mrs. Hanover immediately intercepted him in the living room leaving Kelly to quickly bolt down as much of her dinner as she could while they were busy arguing, before tossing whatever didn't fit in her mouth to the trash can and making her escape. Mrs. Hanover might be mean and nasty when she was stressed, but Mr. Hanover became an abusive monster. And if he was in a bad mood, she didn't even want to be in sight._

_But luck was not on Kelly's side. Her foster had parents stormed into the kitchen, still bickering angrily at each other, and blocked her path, trapping her while Mrs. Hanover got on the phone and pushed back their meeting time._

_After the quick call, she forcefully hung up the phone and stomped over to her husband, shouldering Kelly aside as she did. "Well, you're lucky they were flexible!" she snapped at him, her tone shifting immediately back from sugar sweet tones to its previous hostility._

_Hanover sighed. "It's just an hour."_

_"A whole hour, Jim!" his wife shot back. "Do you know how bad that makes us look!"_

_Hanover frowned. "They rescheduled." he said, annoyance clear in his tone. "Everything is fine now."_

_"It would have been fine if you had just gotten home on time!" Mrs. Hanover shrieked. "God! Sometimes I just can't believe you!"_

_"Hey, I tried my best!" Hanover shouted back in anger. "Stop nagging me! You're not even ready yet!"_

_His answer infuriated his wife and darkened her entire face in anger. "I'm not ready because I was busy trying to get a hold of you!"she screeched._

_Hanover groaned in frustration. "You've reminded me every day about this goddamned reservation, how could I possibly forget?"_

_"Oh, don't give me that! You forget everything!"_

_Her husband looked outraged. "Since when-" he started, but quickly seeing the pointlessness of arguing, his face softened in defeat. "Alright fine, I'm sorry. Go finish getting ready and then we'll go."_

_But Mrs. Hanover had too much frustration yet to be vented for a simple apology to settle her down. "__You're going like that?" she sneered, giving her husband's wardrobe a distasteful once over._

_Hanover made a face. "What's wrong with this?" he asked incredulously._

_His answer was a look of utter disbelief. "What's wrong with that?" she echoed in disgust. "What's wro-?" She threw up her hands. "You know what? Nothing's wrong. It's perfectly fine. I just dressed up just so you could sit next to me looking like a fool."_

_"Candace, don't be- Fine, I'll change."_

_"No. That's perfect. What you have on is perfect." she continued, storming towards her bedroom. "I'm going to finish my makeup. Don't get comfortable, we're leaving in ten minutes."_

_The slamming door echoed loudly into the kitchen, ushering in the awkward silence that followed. __Kelly, a still and silent witness to the heated argument, now found her exit blocked by only one person. She lingered in the corner, hoping he would leave and allow her to go back to her room._

_Hanover groaned to himself and rubbed his face with both hands. He turned to go and started at the unexpected sight of Kelly, just realizing she'd been there the entire time._

_"What the hell are you looking at?" he snarled at her._

_Kelly immediately looked away. "Nothing, sir."_

_"Why are you down here?"_

_Before she could respond, Mrs. Hanover's sharp voice rang out from down the hall._

_"If you're going to change, you need to do it now!"_

_Hanover rolled his eyes and then glared back down at Kelly, as if his wife's nagging was her fault. "Clean up that mess." he ordered, gesturing to the few dishes in the sink. He turned on his heels and stomped off toward his bedroom, leaving Kelly alone in the kitchen._

_She listened to his retreating footsteps reverberate down the hallway and heaved a sigh of relief. He was in a horrible mood, had just been emasculated in her presence. That considering, she had gotten off easy. Though there was still one obstacle separating her from escape. __Without wasting anymore time, she hurried to the sink and began washing the dishes as fast as she could, hoping to be safely out of sight before they left. But, luck continued to evade her, and just as she dried off the last dish, both of her foster parents bustled back into the kitchen, again blocking any chance to slip away unnoticed._

_"Move, Kelly." Mrs. Hanover snapped, pushing past her to get to the counter. "I don't see it, Jim!" she cried, looking frantically around the counter._

_"It's there. I saw it." _

_With both adults distracted, Kelly decided to take this golden opportunity to sneak away. She slipped by her foster mother and was aiming for the gap between Hanover and the refrigerator, when he suddenly stepped forward, bumping right into her._

_"Get out of the way!" he growled, pushing her to the side._

_Kelly stumbled back, but quickly regained her balance and resumed her retreat._

_"Kelly, have you seen my pearl necklace?"_

_The harshly toned question stopped her in mid step and she bit back a scream of frustration. Why couldn't she just get out of here?_

_"Um- no Ma'am, I haven't seen it." she said quietly._

_Mrs. Hanover rolled her eyes. "Then help look."_

_Unbelieving how bad her luck was, Kelly sighed miserably and unwillingly stepped back into the kitchen. It would be wise to keep her search limited to the table so as to stay out of her foster parent's way, but the kitchen was small for three people and she would have to be careful._

_"Just go without it! What does it matter!" Hanover grumbled, irritably pawing through a pile of bills._

_"I need a necklace, Jim."_

_"Then wear one of your other ones!"_

_But his wife ignored him. He cursed under his breath and whirled around, intending to go upstairs to grab another of his wife's many necklaces and hurry her along. _

_Instead, he backed right into Kelly._

_"Goddammit!" he shouted in frustration, shoving her away angrily. This time, she stumbled into a chair, sending it sliding backwards with a metallic scrape. Before she'd even regained her footing, Kelly hands were shielding her face, fearful of one of the harsh punishing slaps that had become more and more frequent the past few weeks._

_But, a scrap of luck finally was tossed her way and she was spared._

_"Leave her alone, we don't have time for that!" Mrs. Hanover snapped._

_Muttering curses, Hanover glared at his wife, but lowered the raised hand he had intended for Kelly's face, glowering at her before turning away to aid the search. Kelly sighed in relief and, though it hadn't really been concern for her health that led Mrs. Hanover to stop her husband, sent a grateful smile to her back anyway._

_"Well, we don't have time for this either!" Hanover shot back, gesturing toward his wife's frantic search. "Candi, let's just go, we can find it later."_

_"But I had been planning to- Oh! Here it is!" Mrs. Hanover squealed, holding up the missing necklace exuberantly._

_Hanover rolled his eyes, and started walking towards the front door. "Great. Can we go now before we're la-"_

_The rest of his sentence dissolved into an animalistic cry of frustration. Once again, Kelly had made a break for her room, and once again Hanover had walked right into her. This time though, the man lost his temper. With a bellow of rage,__ he grabbed Kelly by both shoulders and hurled her out of his path as hard as he could._

_Hanover was a powerful man, and Kelly was small framed and skinny. The shove was enough to send her flying across the room and into the kitchen table. With a shriek of pain, Kelly's ribcage smashed into its edge with enough force to send it skidding into the wall, bowling over the chairs behind it with a loud crash._

_The force knocked the wind out of her, but the split second ride wasn't yet over. She felt her speed abruptly checked by the sudden impact with the wall, and with nowhere else to go, her momentum sent her sliding under the table and swung her straight down to the ground._

_The floor rushed up to meet her before she could brace her fall and her forehead bounced off of the hard linoleum with a loud, solid crack. The blow was hard, echoing loudly in her ears and teeth, jarring her senseless. Every nerve in her body fired off at once, screaming it's protest, before going completely numb. She lay quietly, stunned and dazed, unable to even cry out in pain. Her head felt like it was going to explode, the pain was overwhelming, inescapable._

_There was frantic yelling, movement, cursing going on around her but she didn't understand it. Meaningless noise. Moving was impossible, getting up a laughably unthinkable task. Instead, she stared straight ahead at the toppled kitchen chair lying in front of her, watched it's image swirl and spin lazily, distorted and hazy, until finally dimming mercifully into blackness._

_She came to half an hour later, tossed haphazardly on the couch, in a dark, empty, and quiet house. Even opening her eyes made her wince and she closed them almost as soon as she had._

_Her head throbbed, so much pain it made her nauseous, and she wished she hadn't eaten her ham sandwich. It took two attempts before an experimental touch revealed a large, swollen knot right below the hairline of her forehead._

_Kelly moaned and let her hand fall back to her side. It was uncomfortable on the couch, drafty and cold. Her eyes remained closed, but she knew there was a blanket draped over the opposite arm of the couch by her feet. That would help with the chill._

_She took a deep breath and pushed herself up on her elbows. The movement was deeply regretted an instant later. White hot pain seared through her entire skull, pounding in her ears and behind her eyes. She yelped and let her tired body fall back into the couch. Her arm fell limply to the side, knocking into something hard and cold. Kelly ignored it, focused only on somehow willing the shooting pain in her head to dull. When it finally subsided enough for her to think, she carefully swiveled her eyes to the floor beside her._

_Her hand had knocked into a glass of water left on the floor by her side. Kelly sighed and closed her eyes again. Water would be nice. Too bad she stupidly spilled it on the carpet. But, it didn't matter. She felt herself slipping away again and decided not to fight it. As she drifted off, the image of the watermarked carpet kept her company, worrying her behind her closed eyes. The last time she spilled a drink, she had been beaten, hit so hard in the stomach that, for the rest of that week, there was a sharp sting in her side every time she took a deep breath. She had time to clean it up, but moving seemed an impossible feat. It hurt too much._

_Oh well. She'd deal with it when they got home, she decided tiredly. Until then, sleep sounded good._

* * *

Kelly sighed and opened her eyes.

That had been the first time Hanover had really hurt her. She unconsciously raised her hand to her smooth forehead, remembering all too well the deep purple bruise, dull ache, and random headaches that had stayed with her the next few weeks after that incident.

It had been worth it though, strangely enough.

Knocking her unconscious seemed to have given her foster parents a frightening reminder of her mortality and just how easy it might be to kill a little girl. They might not have loved her, but they knew well enough, at least then, that there were consequences for murder.

She hadn't been punished for spilling the water. When her foster parents arrived home from their evening out, they had been almost nice to her. Mrs. Hanover woke her, carefully walked her up the stairs to her room where she helped her lay down in bed, even going so far as laying a cold compress on her bruised forehead before leaving her alone for the night, in and out of consciousness, only Lilibet to comfort her. There were no apologies or acknowledgement of the accident the next morning, but they had both been careful with her awhile, as if touching her would cause her to break. The next week had been relatively abuse free and as much as it hurt, she'd been glad for the reprieve that her injuries had given her.

As she reminisced, a fleeting shudder of panic clutched at her chest and immediately evaporated, a strange, but hauntingly familiar sensation to her. The sudden flash of outrage, terror, and abject horror that seized her every once in awhile, a split second of realization that was gone just as soon as it came. The briefest instant where she separated from herself, became an outsider, just long enough to become aware of how traumatic her upbringing had been. How her childhood might be viewed by someone with a much more appropriate definition of normal.

But as years of abuse had trained it to do, her mind batted it away, refused to dwell and refused to deal. Instead, she glanced at her watch.

Half past seven.

Kelly parked the rental car in the closest spot to their motel room that she could find. With a weary sigh, she jerked the sticky gear into neutral and sat quietly, listening to the idling engine and staring absently into space.

Was Hanover capable of murder?

He'd been so remorseful, but she'd experienced enough of his abuse to think so. He lost himself sometimes, blinded by a cloud of fury, and had come close to killing her on more than one occasion. If he hadn't purposely murdered that girl, was it too far fetched to think he may have over done his abuse? Hit her a little too hard? Pushed her down the stairs?

Yes. Of course it was possible. Hadn't it been a miracle that she had survived his brutal assaults?

The man was a killer, there was no doubt about it.

Speaking to Hanover's colleagues all afternoon, hearing what a fantastic guy, what a hard worker, and what a perfect gentleman he was left her brimming with a turbulent mixture of disgust and anger that she didn't know what to do with.

But it was exhausting, that much she knew. Mentally, emotionally, whatever it was, she simply did not have the energy to get out of the car. The thought of sitting down, talking, and comparing notes with Sabrina and Jill made her want to turn the car around and drive away.

She continued sitting for several more minutes, working up the will to get out, until the darkening sky reminded her that she'd already been an hour late when she parked. Now she was probably worrying her friends in addition to lying to them.

Perfect.

With a groan of disgust towards herself, Kelly shut off the car, climbed out and walked briskly toward the motel door. Three feet from it, it suddenly opened, spilling the pale light of the motel room out onto the cracked sidewalk. A shadow obscured it a second later and Kelly found herself staring at Sabrina's mildly surprised face.

"Hey, there you are." Sabrina said with an uneasy grin. "We were starting to get worried."

Kelly forced a smile and jogged up to the door, as if rushing the last three feet of her journey would make up for any lost time. "Sorry, Bri." she breathed. "Lost track of time."

"Is that her?" Jill's strained voice came from inside. Footsteps thudded over the thick carpet and Jill's worried face popped up behind Sabrina's shoulder, startling her so that she jerked her head into the doorframe. Jill didn't seem to notice.

"Kelly, where have you been!" she demanded hotly.

A wave of defensive anger bubbled up into Kelly's chest, and she took an unconscious step away from her. "I said I lost track of time." she answered irritably. "Can I come in please?"

Jill narrowed her eyes, but stepped aside to allow her friend to pass. She watched her angry friend move past her, watched her dump her things on the table and sink onto her bed, her rigid posture daring to be challenged further. The shutting door made her turn and her eyes caught, but refused to keep Sabrina's gaze. The look her dark haired friend was giving her clearly said to let it go. But that was not on Jill's schedule at the moment. Not by a long shot.

"It's almost seven thirty. Why didn't you call when you saw you were going to be late?" she asked, with more animosity than she felt.

Kelly looked up, but the irritated, defensive scowl on her face was gone, quickly replaced by the same cool and collected manner that she was so good at conveying.

"I'm really sorry, Jill." Kelly said innocently. "I got caught up and I didn't realize how late it was." She stared expectantly at her angry friend, her green eyes glittering victoriously, more than aware that the winning hand had just been played.

Jill gave a loud mental curse. She'd walked face first into this trap. With the calm façade Kelly had somehow summoned, her own anger now seemed out of place and unnecessary. Any further pushing would only serve in making her look foolish.

Kelly had done it again. Or so she thought.

If Kelly wanted to lock horns in a battle of manipulation, then so be it. She wasn't the only one capable of it.

Jill took a deep breath and forced herself to relax her stance.

"Maybe you should keep better track of time, Kell." she said solemnly. "We were really worried about you. This is a new city for us. What if something had happened to you? Bri was about to go looking."

The dark look Kelly sent shooting her way almost made Jill smile in triumph.

"I said I was sorry." she conceded quietly.

"It's fine, Kell. Glad you're ok." Sabrina interrupted quickly, sweeping her gaze over both friends. Jill and Kelly bickered frequently, but this wasn't an everyday argument, and though it wasn't likely, a brief glimpse of what would happen if her two friends decided to start trading blows flashed through her head. Neither looked angry, but she recognized the confrontational stance their calm exteriors were hiding and, the mere fact that she was worried about them getting physical sent alarm bells clanging urgently in her head, screaming for her to step between them. .

"So." she continued, rubbing her hands together excitedly. "This is what I'm thinking." She stepped directly between them, separating them and forcing Kelly to take a few steps backwards to regain comfortable proximity. "I thought we'd order a pizza, then go over our notes together. What do you say?"

Jill and Kelly stared at each for a moment before seeming to mutually decide to let it go. They both turned toward Sabrina and the tension in the air thankfully cleared.

"Sounds good, Bri." Jill chirped. "I'll go call it in."

Sabrina watched her flounce over to the phone before sighing in relief and taking a seat next to Kelly.

Crisis deverted. For now.

"Any luck on your end?" she asked.

Kelly wearily shook her head in response. "Only if about thirty character witnesses and throwing a great barbeque will get him off." she reported glumly. Her interest in the subject at hand seemed forced, and Sabrina was quick to pick up on it. Though seeing how defensive Kelly had been towards Jill's mother hen-like concern, she decided to let it slide for the moment.

"That's better then what me and Jill got." she sighed. "I see why the cops were so quick to point the finger at him."

Kelly's eyebrows drew together with genuine interest.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

Sabrina cocked an eyebrow. Her interest now was just as noticeable as her disinterest had been. Later, though.

"Well-" Sabrina started slowly. "-I talked to a bunch of people at that bar he was at. Regulars said he came in quite a bit."

"So he drinks. Lots of people drink."

"It's not that." Sabrina continued, her expression suddenly somber. "They all said he was just- just seething mad at his foster kid the day she disappeared and- uh-" she scratched her head in agitation, obviously disturbed by her findings and grasping for a way to reveal it.

But Kelly wasn't in the mood to wait for Sabrina to handpick her words.

"What, Bri?" she pressed.

Sabrina sighed. "He- he made threats against her." she admitted grudgingly. She studied her friend's face carefully before going on. News of a violent father was not something she felt comfortable sharing with Kelly, especially if their job was to protect him. But Kelly wasn't saying anything, so she plowed forward.

"Pretty violent and- um- detailed threats of what he was going to do to her when he got home. It's not what I was hoping to hear."

Kelly looked away. Sabrina had spared her details out of consideration towards her past, but given the circumstances, she didn't need to. "Well, that- that doesn't mean anything." she stammered lamely. "Parents threaten their kids all the time, right?"

Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "Not like this, Kell. Trust me."

Kelly nodded absently. Trust wasn't necessary. She had been the recipient of Hanover's violent and graphic threats many, many times. And he had very often followed through.

"It didn't look good." Sabrina repeated somberly. "Not at all."

She studied Kelly as she spoke, waiting to see if her face would give away any additional information. But Kelly looked distracted and her blank expression gave away nothing. Before she could think of anything else to say, the sound of the phone being dropped back on its hook caught her attention and she looked up to see Jill walking back towards her.

"Dinner will be here in about twenty minutes." she announced cheerfully.

Sabrina nodded her acknowledgement and motioned for Jill to sit next to her, if only to keep her away from Kelly. She chanced another hopeful glance at her moody friend, but Kelly was still staring absently off into space and the sight of her was suddenly frustrating.

Sabrina rubbed her face irritably, Kelly's listlessness somehow spreading to her. Why did every step of the road now feel like such a struggle? Suddenly even talking about the case seemed taxing and exhausting, and for a brief moment, she felt like putting it off until the morning.

But, regardless of their individual levels of interests, they had a job to do.

"Tell her what you got, Jill." Sabrina said wearily.

Jill flopped down on the bed beside her with a thoughtful look on her face.

"I got to talk to a few of Rebecca's teachers and friends." she started. Her features darkened, and she cleared her throat softly, suggesting that what she was about to say was important. It was enough to snap Kelly out of her trance.

"And?" Kelly asked.

Like it was after most of their squabbles, all trace that her and Jill had been butting heads minutes before was gone from both of their voices and demeanors, and Sabrina finally relaxed. The three friends turned and leaned towards each other, readying themselves for Jill's news.

"And-" Jill continued. "-none of her teachers had met her foster parents. None of them. They all said she was a quiet kid that kept to herself, didn't cause any trouble, did enough to pass. "

"One of those kids that just floats by unnoticed." Sabrina mused to herself.

"Exactly." Jill said with a nod. "And none of her friends had ever met them either. They had never been to her house, never even seen it."

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, and Sabrina and Kelly unconsciously leaned closer. "This is where it gets kinda weird." Jill went on, dropping her voice even though the girls were alone. "The kids I talked to said that Rebecca avoided talking about them, that she even seemed scared of them. They also said they always noticed bruises on her body during gym class. She told them she got them from soccer."

Sabrina and Kelly shared a dark look, before turning their attention back to Jill.

"Soccer. Right." Sabrina echoed sarcastically, distaste obvious in her voice.

"That was my thinking too." Jill agreed. She sighed glumly and tucked a loose bit of blonde hair behind her ears. "So far, it seems like all we've done is supported the reason the cops arrested James Hanover in the first place."

Sabrina shook her head and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We're missing something." she insisted stubbornly. "There's got to be something out there for us to find."

"And if there isn't?" Kelly spoke up quietly.

Both Jill and Sabrina turned to her, took in the blank, slightly unnerving expression she had been wearing since her and Jill's argument.

"There's got to be, Kell." Sabrina refuted.

Kelly let out a short, almost contemptuous laugh. The faint smirk shadowing her features was the first emotion to cross her face since discussion on the case had begun.

"Not if he did it." she said shortly.

Her words hung in the air, heavy and ominous, challenging either of her companions to disagree. Sabrina shook her head first.

"I know it all looks bad, but why would he be going along with this if he knows there isn't any evidence to be found?" Sabrina wondered aloud. "I mean, why make his wife pay for this?"

Kelly scoffed derisively. "Murderers aren't usually the most considerate people, Bri."

"Well, they hired us because this is the same conclusion the police jumped to." Jill piped up. "It sounds bad, yeah, but its speculation." At Kelly's doubtful look, she sighed heavily and prepared to launch herself into the rapid and animated explanation tugging at her logic.

"Kid's bruises might have really come from soccer. She might have been scared of her foster parents because it had only been a few months and she still didn't know them-" she listed off quickly. She paused and made a face. "- and let's face it, that lady isn't the nicest woman in the world. Maybe she didn't invite people to her house or tell her parents about things at school because she was embarrassed. Maybe- uh - "

She stammered for a moment, racking her brain for more and would have continued, had Sabrina not put a quieting hand on her knee.

"We get it Jill." she interrupted. "We'll keep looking." She gave her a final pat and then straightened back up. "Ok, well I've gotten all I'm going to get at the bar." she reported, her tone now business like. "How about you two? Need to go back for seconds tomorrow?"

Jill nodded her head immediately. "Yeah, I do." she said quickly. "There are more kids I need to talk to."

"Kelly?"

Kelly took a moment to answer. When she did, her words were deliberate and very carefully chosen. "I'm done with his work. There are a few neighborhood places I didn't get to."

As she hoped, Sabrina tilted her head, her expression betraying the line of thought Kelly had been expecting. "Yeah? What places are those?"

"The neighbors that live around them and the drugstore."

"Drugstore?" Sabrina echoed, a raised eyebrow asking for clarification.

Kelly nodded her head. "Yeah, one of Mr. Hanover's coworkers said he mentioned going by there the day Becky died. Who knows if he did, but maybe we'll get lucky and someone can place him there."

"Alright, good idea." Sabrina agreed casually. "Why don't I take the neighborhood then."

"I'll go with you." Jill offered. "I won't be long at the school. We can split it."

Sabrina shrugged easy going acceptance of the idea and Kelly smiled to herself. There it was. That was the result she had been hoping for. Better, even. Not only would she be alone for the majority of the day, but Sabrina and Jill would take care of the part of her assignment that worried her most.

"Sounds good." Kelly said lightly. "I'll talk to the manager, see who was the afternoon shift that day and go pay them a visit. It shouldn't take too long, I'll join you two after I'm done." She looked expectantly at her friends as she spoke, and just as she thought they would, the two voiced their agreement with her plan.

Of course they did. Why would they doubt her?

A twinge of guilt forced Kelly to lower her eyes in shame. Of course they agreed with her, they had no reason to think she was operating on a deceitful and manipulative agenda. The guilt continued to gnaw at her as her two friends spoke quietly, just as it had been doing all week.

But it wouldn't be forever. Just until this case was over, she told herself.

Then the lying could stop and she could go back to normal.

Because if she was honest with herself, the only thing that bothered her more than having to speak with, look at, be touched by James Hanover was lying to her two best friends.

Kelly swallowed the tight feeling in her throat and for the next fifteen minutes halfway tuned in to the conversation Jill and Sabrina were engaged in. She jumped in once in awhile to maintain the illusion of interest, but wasn't completely following.

The pizza arrived shortly after and while Jill and Sabrina ate hungrily, she was barely able to force a slice down her dry throat. She'd had no appetite to begin with though, so this wasn't completely unfortunate.

Luckily, the day had been long and tiring for all three girls. Conversation was sparse and thankfully the topic of tomorrow's mission didn't come up anymore during dinner. After Jill had picked the last bit of dried cheese out of the box and finally allowed Sabrina to throw it away, the three settled down to relax and tuned in to the mindless gameshow playing on the only channel their old television could pick up. Every so often conversation turned to the case and Sabrina and Jill would talk some trivial detail out amongst themselves, but Kelly ignored it.

She had managed to put on a convincing show for her two friends earlier, but found it difficult to keep up. Her part had already been played and played quite well. Not that she cared much. It didn't matter what they did tomorrow, or how and when they did it.

Because there was nothing to find.

James Hanover was as guilty as they came, and she knew in her heart that no matter how thoroughly they scoured the entire city for evidence, how many witnesses they grilled for information, it wasn't going to come. She'd do her job tomorrow and she'd do it right, but ultimately she, along with Sabrina and Jill, would come up empty handed.

The only question plaguing her mind was how long would they stay on this hopeless goose chase of a case before giving up and flying back to Los Angeles.

She could easily make that happen. If she could tell them what she knew. To tell them that their endeavors were fruitless, that they were looking for evidence that didn't exist. She wanted to go home the most out of the three, and she alone had the prior familiarity with their client to know that he was guilty. How she longed to just stop the illusion, drop down beside their bed and babble out everything she knew so they could be on the earliest flight to California tomorrow morning. But however convenient that would be for all of them, whatever relief it would give her from the emotional torment she was subjecting herself to, it was impossible.

There was a touch of irony somewhere in there, but Kelly wasn't in a position to appreciate it.

Completely unaware of the passing time, she stayed lost with her unhappy thoughts until she noticed that Jill and Sabrina had both stopped talking. She glanced over at the bed they were lying on and realized they had both fallen asleep.

Kelly sighed and craned her neck to the side to catch a glimpse of the clock on the nightstand between the two beds.

11:15

She cursed softly to herself and pushed herself up on the springy mattress to get a better look at her friends. For reasons she was pretty sure had to do with their argument earlier, Jill had chosen to fall asleep on Sabrina's bed tonight. Kelly shook her head and got up to turn off the noisy television. She should feel guilty for upsetting Jill, but she and Sabrina looked comfortable enough, and right now she couldn't help but feel relieved that she finally had some peace.

Jill's worrying and prying questions were wearing her down, and now even Sabrina had begun mirroring the concerned and confused looks Jill had been giving her all week. It was maddening, like she was losing her mind.

Her hand was on the dial, but the now familiar percussive news music distracted her, and as it was designed to, the anchor's urgent voice caught her attention.

For ten minutes she stood quietly, staring down at grainy image of Carson City's news program, growing more and more disgusted by the second. Followups to reports she'd seen earlier headed the crime portion of the broadcast. Questions remained about the community center vandalism, an artist's rendering of the would be kidnapper flashed across the screen along with the number of a tipline that she was doubtful would get any calls, followed by a mugshot revealing the suspect of the brutal murderer of the woman in the ditch. Kelly frowned and shook her head. It was highly likely that neither man would be caught. So much crime. Not nearly enough punishment. And she was helping it stay that way

The blonde anchor suddenly brightened and smiled charmingly as he segued away from the dark, ugly crimes of the city and promised much brighter content after the commercial break.

But it was time for bed.

Turning the T.V. off cast the entire motel room in complete darkness and Kelly let out a frustrated sigh at her lack of foresight. She waited a moment for her eyes to adjust to the faint streetlights that were seeping in through the curtain until she began to grope her way blindly back to her bed. The price for her carelessness was one banged shin, and she rubbed it gingerly as she climbed back into bed and slid under the cool sheets.

For the next two hours, she stared at the ceiling in the dark room and listened to Jill and Sabrina shift in their sleep or the occasional car drive by their motel room, sometimes streaming headlights through the window as it passed, sometimes not.

Sleep would not be easy, that much she had expected. But insomnia was nothing new to her. In a few short hours, she would be up and working on a case that she had no chance of succeeding at, prowling around the drugstore she had so often frequented, maybe risking being seen by the one person in this city that would know her face.

Kelly sighed in frustration. This was all pointless.

Hanover had murdered that girl. Maybe not on purpose, but without a doubt, he'd caused her death.

And it was only a matter of time until Jill and Sabrina realized it too.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Sorry if this has been a little slow/boring. It will start to pick up soon, I promise. **_

_**Also...really? The Black Eyed Pea's Superbowl Halftime show? Really? Sigh.**_

_**- kp "Pea U" 1185**_

_**

* * *

**_

Chapter 11

The next morning, before Jill, Sabrina, and even the sun had risen for the day, Kelly was jogging down the cracked sidewalk of the motel's walkway towards the bus stop on the corner. It was still dark outside, though the rosy pink and gray streaks in the east promised a new morning within the hour. A quiet and peaceful morning, it's stillness yet to be shattered by the chorus of songbirds, the rush of morning traffic, and the bustle of businesses that would no doubt begin to greet the new day soon. That would all come later, though. For now, Kelly enjoyed the stillness.

She slowed to a halt at the surprisingly well maintained bus stop bench and was mildly surprised to find that she would not be waiting for the bus alone. Slightly awkward by the unexpected company, she flopped herself down next to a white haired old woman dressed in a salmon colored waitress's uniform, obviously intending on relieving someone, somewhere at a greasy all night diner. Kelly made herself comfortable, and sensing the other occupant of the bench was staring at her, lifted her eyes away from her shoes and in the old woman's direction. The old woman smiled politely at her, though there was a trace of annoyance in her cloudy, gray eyes. Kelly offered her a quiet greeting in return and once again sought out her shoes in the dim, flickering light of the broken street lamp overhead.

Hopefully, the friendly salutation would make up for rattling the bench as she sat and sloshing the old woman's coffee onto her starched clean uniform, as she just realized she had done. Oh well. That probably wouldn't be either the first or last time that happened to her today.

With a few minutes to wait for the bus and talking to her neighbor now out of the question, Kelly sighed and leaned her head back. A lone cricket was chirping noisily nearby and the entire area smelled strangely of fresh paint, like the bench and only the bench had recently received a makeover. Kelly closed her eyes. A fresh coat of paint to hide all the imperfections in the old, rotting wood she was sitting on. The easiest way to make the weather beaten surface look new without actually changing anything inside. All a smooth, shiny disguise hiding the marred and ugly secrets underneath. Just like her. Fooling everyone with a mask.

Suddenly restless, Kelly stood up and paced around the littered area between the bench and a rusty chain link fence.

What was she doing?

She sighed to herself and kicked at a piece of Styrofoam cup lying on the ground. All this sneaking around, this avoiding her friends, betraying their trust, hurting them with her lies. Was it really necessary?

Yes.

A resounding yes. The alternative would be them knowing, and though lying was cowardly and disloyal, the mere thought of the looks they would or maybe wouldn't be able to give her, the awkward behavior it would inspire, the disgusting pity in their eyes and tone, made her stomach flutter in panic. No, she couldn't fathom an existence where they knew. How would she be able to face them?

How could they face her?

Kelly turned back toward the motel room and rocked anxiously on her heels. Still, though. Maybe she should have left a note telling them where she was going?

Before she could entertain the idea of going back, the street corner to the left was washed in pale yellow headlights. Tires crunched over the loose gravel and bumped over potholes as Bus 9 turned at the stop sign and headed towards its earliest haul, effectively ending the moral debate in Kelly's head.

Avoiding eye contact with the old woman, Kelly lingered back to let her enter first before climbing aboard. The bus was surprisingly crowded for such an early hour. Sleepy faces of restaurant and construction workers not quite ready for their early shifts, glanced at her as she boarded and then looked away disinterestedly. She sank down onto the closest seat she could find, and though there were other empty seats, the old woman sat down next to her without a word, quietly sipping her coffee as she got herself settled.

The bus door swung shut with a hiss and the big vehicle rolled forward again, thwarting the beginnings of a plan to quickly change seats. Kelly rolled her eyes in disbelief.

At least she wasn't going far.

Bus 9 bumped and jostled its passengers passed four other stops before Kelly decided she was as close as she was going to get to her first destination. The constricting heat and stale odor on the bus, the old woman's unnerving presence and smell of cheap coffee, combined with an overall feeling of paranoia and anxiety was starting to get the best of her, and even if she wasn't exactly there, it wasn't so far that she couldn't just walk the rest of the way. The bus began to roll to a stop and Kelly jumped prematurely to her feet.

And immediately realized she would have to push past the old woman sitting next to her, who clearly wasn't going to move her knobby legs out of the way.

Stifling a groan of impatience, Kelly shouldered her purse and shuffled through the narrow space between the seats.

"Excuse me." she muttered. The old woman glanced her way and then scooted back a worthless fraction of an inch.

Not wanting to prolong interaction any longer, Kelly sighed and pushed her way through anyway. Her purse may have swung to the side a bit and there might have been a faint splash of liquid behind her, but she certainly wasn't going to turn around to check. So half expecting something to be thrown at the back of her head in retaliation, Kelly ducked down, hurried through the bus, and quickly slipped out into the warm morning air.

Once free from the confining metal walls of the bus, Kelly took a grateful breath of fresh air. The warm, fragrant summer scent immediately lifted her spirits and eased the suffocating feeling of anxiety she'd been suffering with during her bus ride. But, it wasn't just her elevated mood that made the city look brighter. The past fifteen minutes had also turned the sky the pale pink and orange of dawn. Kelly shoved her hands in her pockets and took a good look around the city street she'd ended up on.

Time had changed the sights around her, but not to the point of disorientation. Like a snapshot of her memories, with deliberate and subtle changes. Different colors, the addition of fire hydrants, a few remodeled buildings. But this was still the library she remembered. Ten years hadn't changed it much

Kelly's eyes completed their circuit of her surroundings and, after a few moments thought to get her bearings, turned and began walking. It was about a mile to the drugstore she planned to visit and the bus could have taken her much closer, she realized.

Maybe the walking would help with the overwhelming restlessness that had made it impossible to stay in bed until dawn.

Though, there was the drugstore itself to deal with.

Kelly swallowed and forced herself to occupy her mind with something else until she arrived. The drugstore wasn't new territory, wasn't just revisiting a place she had been once or twice, a random place in a city that used to be hers. No, she knew the drugstore. Wiled away many a happy hour with half a mile blissfully separating her and her abusive foster parents.

Oh, she knew the drugstore, but if there was a certain familiar face there, she probably wouldn't recognize her. She'd changed too much.

Hadn't she?

It didn't matter. There wouldn't be time. She'd be in and out.

So with a twenty minute walk in front of her, Kelly squared her shoulders, ignored the memories around her and plowed forward.

* * *

"Bri! Bri wake up!"

Sabrina groggily creaked her eyelids open and tried to focus on the loud, blurry presence in front of her. When the three images melded into Jill's anxious looking face, she groaned and closed her eyes again.

"C'mon, wake up!" Jill's voice kept on. She reached over and shook her friend with determination.

Sabrina's bleary eyes opened again. "Jill! Leave me alone! I'm dreaming about Dean Martin." she grumbled irritably. She buried her face in her pillow in the futile hope of drowning out her friend's voice. But before she could get comfortable, the pillow was roughly yanked out from under her, leaving her head to thump unpleasantly against the mattress.

"Get up!"

The uncharacteristic anger in Jill's tone pierced through the sleepy haze in Sabrina's head. Now more awake, she opened her eyes and pushed herself up on her elbows to face whatever pre-dawn situation that she was now a part of. Her tired eyes took on the dimly lit hotel room and Jill, crouched in front of her by the bed, both hands clutching her pillow and looking more than upset.

"What's wrong, Jill?" Sabrina croaked, rubbing her eyes.

"She's gone!" Jill snapped. "That's what's wrong."

Sabrina's brows knitted in confusion. "Gone? What are you tal-"

"Kelly!" Jill shouted, impatiently thumping her on the back with the pillow. "Kelly's gone! It's six in the morning and Kelly's gone! I told you she's up to something!"

Though she had no reason to doubt her, Sabrina looked around the room anyway. Just as reported, Kelly's bed was rumpled and empty. "Where'd she go?" she asked stupidly. It was too early in the morning for logical questions and the look on Jill's face told her that she maybe should have given it a few seconds more thought.

Jill laughed derisively. "I don't know, Sabrina. She didn't exactly wake me up to tell me."

Sabrina rubbed her face and muttered a few curses under her breath. "Well, what can we do? Maybe she just wanted an early start."

"It's six in the morning, Sabrina." Jill answered with a piteous frown. "She did it to avoid us and I want to know why."

"Well, so do I, Jill." Sabrina sighed.

For the first time since she woke up, Jill cracked a determined smile. "So get up and ruin her plan. We're going to follow her."

Sabrina yawned, but obeyed. "Follow her where?" she asked through her hand.

"If I know Kelly, she wanted to get up and get done early so she'd have time to do whatever it is she's sneaking off to go do." Jill explained quickly, pulling on her shoes. "So I bet she's at the drugstore right now and seriously, Bri? Dean Martin? He's sixty years old."

The unexpected acknowledgement of her earlier confession drew a giggle from Sabrina's throat, despite the tense situation at hand. "Forties Dean Martin." she explained hurriedly. When Jill's only response was a quirked eyebrow and baffled look, she sighed and waved it off dismissively. "I saw a thing on T.V. the other night."

Jill only shook her head. "Hurry up and get dressed." she sighed. With a final pat, she popped up from her crouching position and rushed over to her suitcase to grab her clothes for the day, leaving Sabrina sitting sullenly on the edge of her bed.

"I bet if we hurry we can catch her." she called over her shoulder as she rooted through her bag.

Catch her, Sabrina thought to herself in disgust. And then what?

But Jill was in a determined state of mind, and nothing she said or did would deter her. So, she nodded her head in compliance and the two quickly dressed in the dim moonlight of the motel room and, once ready to be seen in public, hurried out into the early morning air towards the rental car parked nearby.

* * *

Four.

That was the fourth damn bus stop she had passed.

The fourth bus stop the bus could have driven her by to bring her at least three quarters of a mile closer to her destination in much, much less time. If she had been smart enough to stay on for another ten minutes. But, of course, she hadn't. Was the hell was she thinking?

Thinking, she thought with disgust. She wasn't thinking. That was the whole problem. This case was making her crazy. Crazy, irrational, emotional, and a two faced liar.

A stab of guilt tore at her again at the thought of her friends. At least she was suffering for her dishonesty, and the thought, strange as it was, was a bit comforting. For lying to Jill and Sabrina, she wasn't perched comfortably on a bus seat watching her neighbor sip coffee. Instead, she traipsed along the sidewalk like an idiot, sweating in the June Nevada heat and looking and feeling completely and totally out of place.

Sure, that would completely make up for it.

Kelly groaned unhappily to herself and quickened her pace until she was almost jogging. It didn't matter anyway. The store was in sight now. Only another minute or two worth of walking. And though the open doors promised the end of her trek and a decent air conditioner, for some reason a part of her didn't want to go inside.

Because if she was honest with herself, wasn't that the reason for the growing agitation that seemed to increase with every step? Having to return to a childhood haunt and possibly see more familiar faces?

With an angry sigh, she pushed the thought away.

No. It was the heat. That was why she was so irritated.

Before she was ready to, she reached the familiar stone steps of the local drugstore and, refusing to acknowledge any trepidation she felt, scooted by an old man and forced herself to hurry inside.

The cool air on her face was the first sensation to hit her. The second was a strong wave of nostalgia that swept her up and carried her back ten years into the past.

Aside from the employees being a different crop of faceless college aged men and women and sporting newer looking vests, nothing had changed. The drugstore was the same place it had been ten years ago, as if it had simply paused the last time she left and lied dormant until this very moment.

Kelly swallowed and let her eyes wander around its walls. The register, the shelves, the water fountain in the corner, even the aisle numbers. All the same.

Something bumped her elbow, and in her detached state, sent her whirling around in surprise.

"Sorry, miss." a young, shaggy haired employee said as he maneuvered around her with a wet mop. Kelly forced a slight smile and stepped away from the aisle she had been blocking. Now wasn't the time to be stunned into a gaping mouthed stupor. It was a drugstore. Not the Holy Grail.

With a stern mental scolding to get her going, Kelly drifted toward the far wall where she knew the manager's office would be. She looked down as she fumbled around in her purse for her notepad and pen. It was time to stop wasting time with old memories and get some work done. When her fingers pushed past keys, a compact mirror, and her gun, to finally grip the edge of her notepad, she raised her eyes.

And felt her stomach give a violent lurch.

"Hey, Kell."

Sabrina and Jill standing casually in front of her not only surprised her, it made her jerk backwards as if she had run into an invisible wall. Her notepad went fluttering to the floor without an attempt to save it.

"Wh-" she sputtered, her hand on her heart. "What are you two doing here?"

Her reaction seemed to please her friends. They shared a knowing look and smirked.

"The same thing you are." Sabrina answered for both of them. "Getting an early start."

"Really early." Jill added with over exaggerated earnestness. "Great minds, huh?"

Kelly, quick to recover as always, rolled her eyes and bent down to pick up her fallen notepad. "Well, you scared me. And didn't we agree that I was going to talk to the drugstore employees?" she asked lightly, though her mind was screaming in panic.

Sabrina shrugged. "School's not open yet, remember?" she said easily. "Besides, we thought if we helped you out here, we could be done early and focus on something else."

"Well, aren't you efficient." Kelly answered back, a little more shortly than she had anticipated. She quickly covered it up with a broad smile. It would take more than the unexpected to shake her. "So let's get started then. I hope you brought something to write with, cause this is my only pen."

Whatever Jill and Sabrina had been bracing themselves for, it wasn't this. Jill tilted her head thoughtfully and studied her friend with narrowed, hurt blue eyes.

"You do want our help, don't you?" she asked, testing the waters.

Kelly shrugged. "Why not?"

Her question was answered with a uneasy glance. With nothing to say, Jill impulsively reached forward and before Kelly could pull away, brushed at the damp hair clinging to her forehead. "You're all sweaty." she asked suspiciously. "Did you walk here?"

Kelly stepped back and self consciously smoothed her hair away from her face. "No, I took the bu-"

"Why are you avoiding us?"

The question surprised even Sabrina, who joined Kelly in staring at Jill with a baffled expression.

"Jill, I'm not avoi-" Kelly started lamely. But Jill had already gotten the ball rolling, and she was not one to hold back.

"Yes, you are." she snapped. "You're sneaking around and I want to know why."

Though Jill's less than subtle accusation was true, the confrontation was still provoking. For reasons she had no right to, Kelly's already short temper suddenly flared.

"No I'm not!" she shot back. "I'm just doing my job. You should do the same instead of following me around like you're my parole officer or something."

Jill had an acidic response sizzling on the tip of her tongue, but it would have to wait. Sabrina saw him first, the tall, lanky man loitering near the open door of his office, almost afraid to walk out and in between the squabbling women.

"Can I help you ladies?" he asked, with an uneasy smile. Sabrina plastered an overly friendly grin on her face and stepped forward in between Jill and Kelly who, caught by surprise by his voice, could only turn and stare.

"Hi!" she said cheerfully. "Good to see you!-" she glanced at Kelly. "So good! We're with the Townsend Detective Agency. I'm Sabrina Duncan, and these are my associates Jill Munroe and Kelly Garrett."

Jill and Kelly, situation diffused, recovered quickly and were able to manage polite smiles for the uncomfortable store manager by the time Sabrina jerked her thumb towards them by way of introduction.

The store manager nodded at them. "Nice to meet you, I'm Dave Hoffner." he greeted them, stepping outside his office. He ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair and looked suspiciously at each girl in turn. "Detectives, huh? Well, what can I help you with today?"

Deciding it was best to give her hot-headed friends a chance to cool down, Sabrina moved around in front of them, her most winning smile fixed on her face and her arms open in a show of peace. Mr. Hoffner did seem a bit on the jumpy side.

"Mr. Hoffner, our client is in a lot of trouble here, and it would really help if his alibi checked out." she explained quickly. Hoffner swallowed nervously in response, sending his pronounced Adam's apple bobbing down and then up his thin neck before doubtfully crossing his arms in front of his chest. The defensive stance wasn't at all unnoticed.

"Oh, don't worry!" Sabrina blurted out quickly. "No one here is under investigation! We just want to talk to you and maybe some of your employees. You or they might have seen something that will help us out, that's all."

The additional clarification seemed to ease Hoffner's mind. He visibly relaxed, and even offered them a genuine smile. "Well, I'll see what I can do. Come on in. And watch your step."

Sabrina sighed in relief, smiled a thank you, and crowded through the door with Jill and Kelly.

The warning wasn't at all unwarranted. His office was cluttered and messy, the desk overflowing with haphazard stacks of papers, notebooks, and receipts. Hoffner sank into his rickety wooden chair behind his desk with a groan and gestured politely to the equally unsafe looking chairs positioned around the room.

"So, what kind of information do you ladies need?" Hoffner asked, fishing around the chaos on his desk for a pen.

Though he had directed his question at Sabrina, Kelly decided to speak up.

"Our client is being held for murder, and we have reason to believe that he might be innocent." she said. "He claims he was here around the same time of the murder and we'd like to question all of the employees that were working that day. Maybe som-"

Hoffner's face suddenly lit up.

"Oh! The Hanover guy, huh?" he exclaimed excitedly. He abandoned his search for a pen and leaned forward with renewed interest. "I been hearing about that for weeks now! So, he didn't do it, or what?"

"Uh-" Kelly stammered, thrown off by his interruption. The carefully worded statements she had been mentally rehearsing all night and morning like a scripted play to ensure an emotionless and practiced delivery, suddenly dissipated and scattered off into nothing.

"I- We- don't- don't know that yet." she fumbled awkwardly, flustered by the current vast, expansive blank in her head.

Hoffner whistled to himself, unmindful of Kelly's tongue tied situation. "I was surprised when I heard." he mused. "I seen him around, ya know? Seemed like a hell of a nice guy."

"Yeah?" Jill chimed in. "How so?"

Hoffner shrugged. "Just seemed average. Gentle giant kinda guy. Smiled at people, opened doors for ladies, never made a fuss."

"Did you really know him?" Sabrina asked.

"Well, not personally. I just knew his face." Hoffner answered. "I've only been here about a year. People tell me him and his wife have taken in foster kids for the past ten, eleven years or so. Never had a problem until now. Seem like good people. Why take in kids to just hurt them, ya know?"

Kelly did her best to not laugh. The list was longer than he thought. Tax benefits, government checks, free labor, stress relief, a means to fulfill the need for power and other dark, twisted urges. But she said nothing and sat quietly, hoping Jill and Sabrina hadn't noticed her earlier fumble.

"Do you remember seeing him the day of the murder?"

Jill's question brought Dave Hoffner back to topic. He fidgeted uncomfortably and rubbed the scratchy stubble around his large Adam's apple. "Gosh, I don't really remember. I don't think so-" he said slowly. He shook his head. "But that doesn't really mean anything. I'm in and out of here all day. I'm guessing that's why you want to talk to my employees?"

"That's right." Sabrina answered. "Do you have a schedule of who was working the morning and afternoon shifts that day?"

"I do-" Hoffner replied. He paused and let his eyes sweep along the disastrous surface of his desk. "-somewhere in here."

The girls waited patiently for Dave Hoffner to dig up last month's schedule book and flip to the correct page. There, in a variety of smudged red, black, and blue ink, was the names and time shifts of every single employee they needed to talk to.

"You'll find everyone here right now except Billy, Shannon, and Rosa. They don't usually work the morning shift, you can give them a call." he explained, as Kelly, eager to have something to busy her idle hands with, nodded and scribbled his information down. He eyed through the list one more time and tapped his long finger against the last box in the column marked "6-12". "And Kevin. He don't work here anymore, but I still have a phone number I can give you."

Kelly finished scribbling down the last of his information, then handed the scrap of paper to Jill, who wrinkled her nose in disapproval of her friend's handwriting and stuck it in her purse.

As Kelly's capped her pen, and restlessly toyed with it, Sabrina smiled and stood up to shake Hoffner's hand. "Thank you very much, sir. You've been very helpful." she said, summoning back the winning smile that had gotten them through the door.

Hoffner winked at her and shook all three girls' hands in turn. "My pleasure. You can use my office, I'll send them in one at a time. Good luck ladies."

With that, Hoffner strolled away on his long, lanky legs, toward the heart of his store. A dowdy middle aged woman organizing cereal boxes greeted him as he passed, halting him in his tracks with a comical doubletake. He gestured towards her, and the two began a hurried, private conversation with several glances sent their way.

Kelly sighed. That must be the first of sixteen about to be sent on her way. She swallowed the tight, choking feeling in her throat and let her eyes travel sideways to her friends. Jill and Sabrina looked neutral, ready for interviewing, the argument they'd had tossed to the backburner.

For now.

The queasy feeling in Kelly's stomach increased to a rolling nausea. She'd have to keep herself better together, she berated herself sternly. Especially with her friends watching her every move. It had been stupid to just run out and expect them not to worry.

"Ready?" Sabrina whispered, through the polite smile she had put on for the approaching employee.

Kelly licked her lips. Just a little longer. She'd get through whatever repercussions her running off had caused, and then she'd be more careful. It couldn't be much longer. A few more days at best.

Until then, she'd just have to get through it.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

At half past ten in the morning, the last store employee walked out of Dave Hoffner's office, putting an end to an exceptionally brief interview. The young man had been working in the back his entire shift and had interacted with nobody but his fellow coworkers, rendering him a dutiful employee but useless witness. The disappointment however, was anything but new.

It was just as Kelly predicted, hours ago, when the first woman was walking hesitantly towards them. Not a single person, from the cashier to the cleaning staff to the elusive, long sought after Kevin, had seen so much as a trace of James Hanover the morning his foster daughter was murdered.

"Ugh." Jill groaned, irritably slashing through the final employee's name with her red pen. "This is ridiculous."

Ignoring her friend's pessimism, Sabrina yawned and leaned back to stretch her stiff muscles. "Only if he was here." she sighed. "It's pretty clear that he wasn't."

Jill dropped her head to the table with a dramatic sigh. "So, now what?" she mumbled into the crook of her arm.

"So now we eliminate this place as a source of information." Sabrina answered calmly. "And we move on."

Kelly, restless to the point of agitation, chose that moment to pop to her feet and grab up her carefully taken yet messy notes, useless since Jill had also been writing everything down much more legibly. Still, it gave her something to do to keep herself sane. "So, let's move on." she announced hurriedly, pushing in her chair.

Sabrina raised an eyebrow in her direction and Kelly immediately realized she was being uncharacteristically hasty.

"Sure, Kell." Sabrina said lightly. "Where do you think we should go next?"

Kelly shrugged, trying her best to hide her agitation. "There's the school and there's the neighborhood."

To her extreme annoyance, Jill and Sabrina shared a glance, speaking a language she was unable to understand.

"Why don't we grab something to eat and figure out who's going where." Sabrina suggested. She shot another glance at Jill. "You don't mind stopping to get a bite to eat, do you, Kelly?"

Sensing she was being tested, Kelly shrugged her purse more comfortably on her shoulder and forced herself to remain calm. "No, why would I mind?" she said easily.

"You just seem like you're in a hurry." Jill chimed in, with a smile. "But, I'm glad you don't mind stopping to eat. I have a feeling you didn't have any breakfast either."

They were confronting her without actually confronting her and though she knew they had every right, it didn't stop the anger bubbling up from the pit of her empty stomach. "No, I didn't eat." Kelly answered shortly. "I wanted to get here right when they opened, before it got busy. I didn't know I needed your permission."

Instead of responding, Sabrina smiled the same patronizing smile she reserved for suspects she had just outsmarted and the sight of it sent a fresh surge of anger that made her grit her teeth. Feeling flustered and trapped with Sabrina and Jill both staring at her, Kelly walked around the cluttered desk and reached for the door handle.

"So are we going now?" she asked impatiently.

Sabrina stood up, the smug smile still on her face and Kelly had to look away. Her friends' behavior was making her feel like a criminal, just another suspect in a long line of thugs to be broken. She had been in this situation with them countless times before, but this was the first time she found herself on the opposing side. Was this is what it felt like?

Probably. She didn't like it one bit.

"We're going, Kell." Sabrina continued. "When you tell me how you knew this store opened at six."

Suddenly, the clock was the loudest sound in the room. The broken second hand, in a never ending quest to climb over the ten, ticked once and then twice in the silence that followed.

Shit.

Kelly started, realizing her mistake, and was grateful she had been facing away. But the uncertainty didn't last long. Ever the improviser, she willed an annoyed look on her face and craned her neck over her shoulder.

"I didn't." she said wearily. "It was a guess."

Again her words were met with silence. Her pause had been too long. Guiltily long.

Deciding to change tactics, she let out a heavy sigh and turned towards them. With a pained look on her face, she slumped her back against the door, shoved her hands in her pocket, and lowered her eyes, expertly reproducing the same body language one would give after finally being worn down into admitting a shameful secret.

"Look, I couldn't sleep, alright?" she muttered. "I just had to get out and do something. If I had been too early, then I would have just gotten some coffee to kill time."

As expected, her appeal had manipulated Jill's caring nature.

"You haven't been sleeping well. Why can't you sleep?" Jill asked quietly.

Kelly shrugged. "I don't know. Just- I don't know - nightmares. It's fine."

Jill furrowed her brow in concern. "No, honey, it's not fine if it's making you sick-"

"Jill-" Kelly interrupted. "- you know it just happens once in awhile and it'll pass. It hasn't nothing to do with the case so as long as I'm doing my job, what's the problem?" Without giving her friends time to respond, she opened the door and stepped outside. "Look, I'm sorry I left without telling you, I just thought a walk would clear my head a little. And it did, I feel better. So please, you two, I don't need a babysitter, ok?"

Sabrina nodded her head slowly. "Ok." she whispered.

Kelly forced a grateful smile. "Alright, I'm gonna call the school and tell them we're coming. I'll meet you outside."

"Sounds fine." Sabrina answered, waving her hand. She watched Kelly turn and disappear into the now busy aisles of the store before reaching for her purse.

"Why couldn't she have just told us she was having problems sleeping again?" Jill grumbled, as she gathered her things. "Would have saved a lot of time."

Sabrina shook her head. "Because, she just thought of it."

"What?"

"She's lying." Sabrina answered simply. "You're right. Something's up. She's been like this ever since we got here."

Jill scoffed derisively. "Oh, what? Now you say that? When I had been saying that all along?"

Sabrina nodded again, and the two girls headed out the door. A glance to the right revealed Kelly, her back to them, head tilted to hold the phone in place, carefully dialing out a number from the scrap of paper in her other hand. Sabrina took Jill's arm as they walked toward the exit and pulled her closer. "Keep walking." she whispered in her ear, when her friend began to slow to a puzzled halt.

Jill obeyed and tilted her head to the side to hear better.

"Something's going on." Sabrina continued in a harsh whisper. "I think she's been here before. She didn't ask for help finding the office, she knew what time the store would open, and did you see her looking around?" Jill's hair bounced in Sabrina's face as she nodded. "It's almost like she expects to see someone she knows. Now she isn't gonna tell us if we ask, and if we corner her, she's going to do exactly what she did just now."

"Lie." Jill breathed.

"Right through her teeth. And she's good at it. So, when she gets back to the car, you suggest we split up- I think she's on to me. She's gonna go for it. And then we're going to follow her and find out exactly what she's up to."

Jill made a face. "She'll recognize the car."

"So we'll take a cab." Sabrina said quickly. "I want to know what's going on, because right now I don't trust her. And I don't like not trusting Kelly."

"Neither do I." Jill agreed softly.

"And if we have to, we'll look up her records cause I have a feeling she's spent some time here. She might have gotten into some trouble."

Jill shrugged thoughtfully. "Well, that could be why she's been so jumpy."

"Could be. I just want to make sure nothing happens to her. Maybe if we catch her doing something she'll finally level with us."

"Maybe." Jill said doubtfully. She looked back over her shoulder to make sure Kelly wasn't in earshot before continuing . "I just hope it isn't something serious."

"That makes both of us." Sabrina sighed and released her friend's arm. "I think I know who to call to find some information." She glanced backwards as she talked and gave Jill a light pat on the elbow. "Ok, she's hanging up. Suggest the split up and we'll let her take the car."

Jill gave her head a slight nod. "And Hanover?"

"He's waited two months, he can wait a few hours longer." Sabrina whispered back. "Here she comes."

A second later, Kelly's light tread came clipping from behind them. Jill and Sabrina both turned, as if noticing their friend for the first time, and slowed their pace to let her catch up.

"All set?" Sabrina asked casually, once Kelly had matched strides with them.

"All set." Kelly answered. "Now what?"

Sabrina shot a meaningful look at Jill, who completely disregarded it.

"Food's what." Jill answered immediately, without breaking pace. "I'm starving."

The corners of Kelly's mouth unconsciously tugged upward in genuine amusement. "I should have known." she chuckled, playfully nudging her with an elbow. Jill gave her an overly silly grin in return, and for a moment the two girls were just as friendly and at ease in each others presence as they would have been if the past few days of tension, suspicion, and arguments had never happened.

The trio walked back to the car, Jill making sure to avoid eye contact with Sabrina, who no doubt was sending impatient glances and discreet gestures towards her. All in due time, though. One had to play this right, and trampling down that road like a feather haired bull, the way Sabrina wanted her to would very quickly rouse Kelly's suspicions.

It wasn't easy to pick up on, but Kelly was on edge, her behavior somewhat forced, a front to disguise the anxious tics not meant to be noticed.

"What do you feel like eating?" Jill asked, as she hopped into the back seat. That particular question usually sparked an intense and passionate debate amongst the three girls, but to her disappointment, both Kelly and Sabrina simultaneously shrugged their indifference. Jill sighed in frustration.

So much for normalcy.

She waited until Sabrina was forced to narrow down their food choices by turning left before she asked again. "Hey, are we gonna drive around until we starve to death or pick something?"

Kelly had gone quiet the moment the car had started moving and Sabrina's brown eyes only periodically widened in exasperation at her through the rearview mirror. Jill rolled her eyes at Sabrina's reflection. So, no opinions and no conversation. There went the hope that atmosphere could be lightened by the time they finished eating.

"Ok, fine. First thing you see then." Jill relented, as though anyone else had been involved in her discussion.

Fifteen seconds later, the first thing revealed itself to be a ramshackle dive of a Chinese restaurant. Not particularly wanting to complicate their week with botulism, a raised eyebrow from Sabrina finally inspired some discussion.

"Second thing?" she asked with a half smile that brought an actual laugh from Kelly.

"Second thing." Jill and Kelly agreed immediately.

Sabrina made a show of speeding up as she passed the place and the girls giggled softly, for another brief moment their normal selves shining through the current tension and strain.

Jill's smile faded as their giggling died down. Her Kelly was still in there somewhere and the sooner they got to the bottom of whatever was bothering her, the sooner they'd have her back.

* * *

An hour later, with a late breakfast finished, the girls were piling back into the car.

"Now what?" Kelly asked, and both her friends were sure that the impatience in her tone wasn't imagined.

Sabrina shot Jill one last pleading look through the rearview mirror and Jill finally went through with their plan.

"We should split up and knock out the rest of our leads." Jill said casually. "And if we don't get anything today, we can meet back at the hotel tonight and try to figure out a different game plan."

Sabrina nodded slowly. "Sounds good, Jill. Why don't me and you finish up the school. Kell, you can scout the neighborhood. Ask around if anyone saw Hanover leave the house." She caught her friend's eyes through the mirror. " Ok with you?"

Kelly shrugged. "It won't take long. I would imagine everyone has already been questioned."

"You never know." Sabrina said thoughtfully. "If it came across the news as an open and shut case, people might have kept what they know to themselves."

"Alright then." Kelly agreed. "Why don't you drop me off? When you two are finished you can come back and pick me up."

This time it was Jill who sought Sabrina's eyes in the rearview mirror. Kelly's plan hardly left any room for her to go traipsing across town doing whatever secretive activity she was doing. Still, though. Where there was a will…

"You'll be ok by yourself?" Sabrina asked.

Kelly raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm a big girl, Bri." she said sarcastically. "I'm driving and everything."

Sabrina smiled, though she wasn't quite sure if Kelly had been joking or not. "What I mean is, can you get around in the neighborhood by yourself? You've never been there."

"I'll manage." Kelly said shortly. Then, realizing how testy that must have sounded, quickly smiled and added, "If I get lost I'll find a nice policeman."

"Ooh, not too nice, I hope." Jill teased, with a suggestive arch of her eyebrow.

Kelly let the chance at playful banter pass her by.

"Alright." Sabrina said with a shrug. She toyed with the idea of asking Kelly to keep better track of time, then decided against it. Instead, she started the car and wheeled them out of the parking lot and onto a moderately busy and unfamiliar street. "Hey, how do I get back to that house again?" she wondered out loud to herself, as she glanced around the rows of businesses around her.

"Take a left at the next light." Kelly answered quietly.

Sabrina and Jill again caught each others eyes.

"Oh yeah. Thanks."

Sabrina slowed to a halt at a red light and cast a sideways glance at Kelly. Kelly did have an excellent sense of direction, but as far as she and Jill knew, they had never been on this street, and had only been to the Hanover's residence once. It was probable, but Kelly was running out of coincidences to fall back on.

The light turned green and Sabrina turned the rental car where Kelly told her, immediately depositing them on a familiar street.

"Wow, you think you'd been here before." Jill remarked casually, though Sabrina knew better. She was testing her. And right now she wasn't sure if that was the best of ideas.

"What?" Kelly responded, looking convincingly baffled.

Jill grinned and leaned forward between the two front seats. "You know this place pretty well for someone who's never been here."

Sabrina could practically hear Kelly's wall of defense hastily flying up around her, brick by brick. Jill had caught her off guard.

"You sure you haven't been here?" Jill pressed.

"I haven't, but I had some practice this morning." Kelly answered smoothly. "I rode around on the bus looking for the drugstore, remember?"

Jill ruffled her hair playfully and flopped back into her seat. "Well, good thing. That saves us some time."

Her manner was lighthearted, but Sabrina understood the quick glance she had given her through their mirror and shrugged slightly in response. Jill didn't believe her.

As usual, Kelly's excuse was perfectly reasonable, and that, Sabrina realized was what made her such a convincing liar. And with that thought, doubt began seeping through every perceivable crack in the foundation of her and Kelly's friendship. And for the first time since they met, she found herself wary of her best friend, untrusting and suspicious of her motives. She might be telling the truth now, but Kelly had lied before and now everything that came out of her mouth could well be a lie just like it.

No, Kelly could not be trusted and not having Kelly on her side was new territory that she didn't enjoy exploring.

This needed to be put behind them and fast or permanent damage might be done.

* * *

At a quarter till two in the afternoon, Kelly jogged up to the blue painted bench and sat down to wait for the next bus. If she was lucky, there would be one at five and she'd only have to sit here being dangerously idle for only another fifteen minutes. Only fifteen minutes of guilt, anxiety, and nagging reminders of her past. She leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath.

As she had expected, the neighborhood had been a complete bust. No one knew anything, no one had seen anything, and with the exception of the occupants of a few houses near the Hanover residence, no one had even met James Hanover or his unfortunate foster daughter.

What she hadn't expected however, was the complete lack of familiar faces in the neighborhood. The start of her mission had seen her a fidgetting bundle of nerves, anxious and nervous about meeting those who had known her years ago. Kelly tilted her head back in an attempt to relax and squinted her eyes against the bright afternoon sun. The neighborhood must have had a higher turnover rate than she did as a child. The only person she recognized from her former neighborhood was an old woman who probably couldn't have picked her face from a lineup even back then. She looked just as Kelly remembered her from fleeting glances in the front yard as she played unsupervised in the streets. Though the old man that used to live with her was nowhere to be seen, so her elderly neighbor couldn't have been completely unchanged.

If anyone else had been living here ten years ago, then she didn't recognize them. Which was a good thing, because they had no way of recognizing her either.

It was some measure of relief, though not nearly enough to settle her nerves.

And so she waited at the bus stop, hoping for a five o' clock bus to come rolling down the street for her. She'd told Sabrina and Jill she'd wait, but then decided she had finished much too soon for them, and an hour or two of milling around with her inner demons was not something she wanted to endure. No, she needed something to do. Anything. She'd be back in an hour or so, she reasoned with herself. Back in plenty of time to catch them.

And if she missed her rendezvous with Jill and Sabrina, she would make it up to them later.

She'd been so terrible lately, surely they couldn't be any more disappointed with her.

Just as Kelly began to realize she had a new and much shorter limit to how long she could sit unoccupied, the five o' clock bus came rumbling by, exactly on schedule. She gratefully boarded and took a seat in the back, away from everyone that looked as if they might want to make small talk. With no particular destination in mind other than a change of scenery, she sat quietly in her seat and let the bus take her away from the painful memories she had been facing all morning.

* * *

From her vantage point half a block away, Sabrina watched the cloud of dust from the public bus settle itself back onto the street.

She'd been following Kelly at a distance all afternoon, and at first had been disappointed, though pleased to see that Kelly was merely doing her job. But, the relief didn't last long. They were sneaking around behind her for a reason, she reminded herself. Kelly finished her work more quickly than she'd expected her to, then ignored the plans they had made earlier and boarded the first bus that came her way.

So, where was she going?

Sabrina sighed and fished in her pocket for a dime to call Jill. Whatever Kelly was up to, it was high time they found out.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"There's one! Right there! Wave your arms!"

Sabrina turned in the direction Jill was frantically gesturing towards and immediately made a face. "Oh, Jill. That's not a cab." she groaned. "It's just a yellow car."

Her condescening tone of voice put Jill on the defensive, eliciting an irritated huff from the normally patient blonde. "Ugh- well you told me to look for ye-" Her blue eyes suddenly widened, abandoning in an instant all previous frustration from her features. "Oh! There! There's one!" she cried excitedly.

Again Sabrina turned to follow Jill's pointed finger and this time was rewarded with the sight of a taxi cab turning the corner. She sighed in relief, the blessed sight marking the end of a brief, yet unbelievably stressful journey. They'd barely managed to stay a step behind Kelly's bus while desperately seeking a suitable place to safely ditch their garish silver rental. Even the short time they'd followed in the car was a great risk of being seen, a fact that did nothing to tone down the level of anxious squabbling between the two. But the car was now sloppily parked, left to the mercy of a random bank parking lot, and the two girls were running out of time. Kelly's bus was already starting to roll forward. Without wasting another second, Sabrina stepped onto the curb and flagged down the already slowing cab.

Before it had even completely stopped both girls were clambering inside.

"Hey, this is going to sound a little weird, but can you just follow that bus right there?" Sabrina said rapidly as she settled herself in her seat. "We're not doing anything illegal or anything, we j- Oh, hello again."

Staring back at her, in exasperated disbelief, was the same impatient cab driver from yesterday.

"Hello again." he echoed back unhappily. "You want me to what, now?"

"Follow that bus!" Jill answered, dramatically pointing toward the diminishing silhouette of Kelly's vehicle.

Both Sabrina and the cab driver turned to give her a long, blank stare before the driver sighed and with what might have been a whispered prayer, eased the cab forward. Sabrina looked away, rolling her eyes, and Jill, having just fulfilled a life long dream, only grinned and gave a satisfied shrug of her shoulders in response.

With the girls bouncing anxiously inside, the taxi followed the street in the direction of Kelly's bus for a few nervewracking minutes before it's familiar outline finally came into view. As if waiting for them, it chose that exact moment to pull over at its next stop to let on the bench full of awaiting commuters. The cab driver reluctantly coasted to a stop behind it.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sabrina whispered urgently. "You can't stop behind it!"

The cab driver stared at her through the rearview mirror. "I'm following it." he said slowly, as if explaining a difficult concept to a challenged toddler. "It stopped, so I stop too."

"But she'll know we're following if you do that!" Jill cried, smacking her palm into his headrest in frustration.

"Then what am I supposed to do?"

Sabrina reached over him and impatiently tugged at his steering wheel. "Just go around like everyone else! Circle the block or something!"

Flustered by their pawing, the cab driver heaved a loud sigh of irritation. "Alright! Alright!" he shouted, swatting their hands away. "Will you two ladies get your hands off of me so I can think?"

Sabrina and Jill flopped back into their respective seats, leaving the driver to rearrange his hat and reflect on the sad irony of his last sentence. Who would have thought the day would come?

Reminding himself that the meter was running, the cab driver circled the block and arrived back in time to see Kelly's bus once again roll forward with its new passengers. A quick scan around the street told them that Kelly was still one of them. She couldn't have disappeared so quickly after exiting.

The bus continued on its route for the next twenty minutes, stopping and going, picking up and dropping off passengers, completely oblivious to the loud and erratically swerving taxi behind it. Finally, just as the driver contemplated stopping and throwing both girls out on the curb, the bus came to another stop and a familiar, slender brunette stepped off.

"There she is!" Jill whispered, annoyingly shaking the poor man's headrest.

The driver slumped back in relief. It would all be over soon. "Is that who you're following?" he asked wearily.

"Yeah, that's our friend." Sabrina whispered. "Hang on just a second, you can drop us right here."

"Friend?" the driver echoed doubtfully. He shook his head and watched the two girls, crouched down as if hiding behind the two front seats and rolled his eyes. If that pretty brunette was actively avoiding these two nut cases, he couldn't see a single reason why she shouldn't be.

After a few increasingly uncomfortable moments, the blonde girl finally spoke up. "Thanks, big guy!" she whispered. She peeled off a few bills and absently wadded them into his hand as the two piled out of the car. "Keep the change!" she called over her shoulder.

The driver sat in stunned silence until long after the bobbing figures of the two girls had disappeared in the direction the brunette had taken, before finally looking down at the bills in his hand. He leaned his head back and sighed.

The blonde had shorted him four dollars.

But he wasn't about to go after them. Hell, he'd have given ten dollars to be rid of them. With a weary groan, he pulled away from the curb and merged into the streaming traffic. He wasn't a sentimental man, but for some reason he started to feel genuine pity for the poor brunette. But, it was best not even to let himself wonder why those crazy women were stalking her.

Whatever disagreement they had with her, all he knew was he couldn't really blame her for running away.

* * *

Unaware of the detectives skulking several yards behind her, Kelly walked away from the bus stop and stopped to look around.

Why had she come here?, she thought to herself.

It certainly hadn't been planned. But, riding along the bus with no clue as to where her destination was had made her nervous. And for reasons she wasn't sure, this is where she had decided to go. Kelly sighed and found the faded, but familiar block letters above the drugstore's double doors. Was it because this had been a happy place? Because there was a face she had been hoping to see?

Or was it because she was getting motion sickness from the bumpy ride and this happened to be the next stop?

Whatever the reason, Kelly shifted her purse strap on her shoulder, took a deep breath and headed back inside.

Now that it was mid-day, the drugstore was the busy place she remembered it to be, with employees bustling about and customers milling between aisles, everyone's movements and voices contributing to the low and constant buzz of noise that she remembered.

Kelly's eyes scanned through the crowd in search of something to give her a reason other than restlessness for being here. Just before she started to get anxious again, she spotted a cooler filled with drinks. Perfect. Her stomach was still queasy from the long bus ride and though closing her eyes hadn't helped prevent a nauseated stomach, a carbonated beverage might help settle it. So, armed with a goal and a purpose, she hurried to the cooler, grabbed the first soda she saw and made her way to the long line by the two check out stations.

As she waited, she marveled at the random, eclectic collection of candy and knick knacks lining the shelves by the registers. Kelly smiled and reached out to finger a plastic bag of shiny marbles. That was something that would have had her undivided attention as a child. Not that she had ever had enough money to buy anything. But still, it had been fun to look and she'd spent a great deal of time here as a little girl doing just that. As an afterthought, she grabbed up a few treats to present to Jill and Sabrina as a peace offering if she was late for their meeting, then decided to drink her soda while it was still cold.

The cola did more than settle than her stomach. The bus had been hot and stuffy, and Kelly was surprised how much a cold drink did to lift her spirits. Also, she was pleased to realize, it gave her idle hands something to do. Now not so self conscious in the slow moving line, she relaxed and engaged in some people watching, just like she did as a child.

The frazzled looking young woman in front of her in line herded two annoying children forward and finally began to unload her groceries. While she busily hauled boxes of kiddie cereal and more cans than Kelly could eat in a year, the two children bickered loudly over a piece of fallen candy. The two toddlers tugged it back and forth, darting under and around their mothers legs until, unable to take it anymore, she reached down, yanked it out of her son's hands, slammed it on the counter, then crouched down, pulled both children close and gave them a private, but obviously very stern warning.

Kelly watched, half amused by the display. The woman wasn't too much older than she was. Twenty six, twenty seven. Probably had been around her age when the twins were born. Kelly tilted her head and smiled at the two boys, now lapsed into a fit of sulking and blaming each other with silent glares for the loss of their treat.

If life had been normal, could that have been her with a budding family, buying sugary cereal and maintaining peace between squabbling children? The thought popped up unexpectedly in her mind and lingered as it usually did. And as she usually responded to it, her lips curved into a dismissive smile.

Yeah, right.

With a slight shake of her head, she resumed her passive observation. The two boys were relatively well behaved for the remainder of their time in line, absorbed now by the fascinating bubble gum dispenser that stood by the door, beckoning them with its colorful balls of sweetness.

Kelly smiled. That bubblegum machine had been there since she was a child and it was a glorious day when her after school hike home happened to cross paths with a fallen nickel or dime. On the days it did, she'd make an excited detour for the drugstore. Those wonderful days were a rare treat, a brief respite from the misery that was her life in those days. On those days, she wouldn't come directly back to her violent home after school or spend hours wandering the neighborhood alone to avoid it. On those days, she had money. And money, to a certain twelve year old girl, had indeed bought happiness.

Those days gave her an excuse to wander to the drug store, plunk a dime into the bubble gum machine, turn the crank, and then enjoy the crunchy gumball that came out. She liked to guess what color would await her, though right or wrong, nothing could disappoint, and usually chomped on the sticky gum for the rest of the day, unmindful that the flavor had long since been leached out of the gray and colorless wad.

It also gave her the opportunity to talk to Sonya, the grandmotherly old store clerk with the gnarled hands, soft voice, and a bottomless pocket full of peppermint candies. Kelly smiled to herself as she allowed herself to drift back in time, to the very small handful of good memories she had of her childhood. There weren't many, and especially not in Carson City.

But Sonya was one of them. The old woman with the candy who always had a nice word, or if lucky enough to be caught during her break, a story, for the lonely little girl who spent her time at the drugstore to avoid going home. Kelly remembered fondly the afternoons she whiled away wandering down the aisles, watching her work, listening to the old woman's stories, and happily sucking on the peppermint Sonya was so fond of giving out. The old woman may have had an inkling, but couldn't know the full extent as to why Kelly hated going home, couldnt know that the shy, skinny little girl who visited every so often did so because she was the only consistent, friendly adult presence in her life at the time. She couldn't possibly know how much her kindness had meant, how refreshing it was to be treated equally, to have a place where she wasn't yelled at or hit. The drugstore provided a warm place to escape during the cold winter, but the heater wasn't what kept her there. Sonya was nice to her, gave her more than candy. Her stories and the attention she showed her were the highlights of her year in Nevada.

Kelly suddenly started. She had been lost in the past so long, she had forgotten about the present. Ten years was a long time, but…

For the first time since she'd gotten in line five minutes ago, Kelly leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of her cashier.

She saw exactly who she expected to see and her smile unconsciously broadened.

Impossible as it may have seemed, the old woman kneeling down and ruffling the mischievous twins' hair was kind hearted, friendly old Sonya. Kelly watched, her heart filling with warm nostalgia as Sonya reached into her pocket, produced two peppermints and handed each twin a piece of candy.

Their mother thanked the old woman warmly, gathered her groceries and herded her little family towards the exit.

"Did you find everything alright, miss?"

Her voice still sounded the same. Kelly turned her gaze away from the exit doors and back to the friendly old woman's face. She looked thinner, a bit more aged, but the sparkle was still there and it made Kelly smile.

"Yes, ma'am. Thank you." she answered politely. The two women's eyes met, Sonya returned the smile, and then went back to her work.

Kelly watched her gnarled old hands move, just as she always had. The woman hadn't recognized her, of course. She'd been a little girl and ten long years had passed since their last meeting, but still, there was a brief twinge of disappointment that she hadn't.

"Any big plans for the Fourth?" Sonya asked conversationally.

Kelly raised her eyes up and smiled politely. Sonya always talked to her customers. "Maybe a get together with some friends." she answered. "And yourself?"

Sonya didn't look up. "Oh, you know. Some family stuff. Take the grandkids some of those poppers you young people like so much."

"That sounds really nice."

Sonya nodded. "Oh, yes it will be." she said in her gravelly old lady's voice that Kelly enjoyed hearing so much. With the last of Kelly's items priced, the old woman tallied up the total and began bagging.

"That'll be three dollars and twenty eight cents, young lady."

Kelly dug her wallet out of her purse and slid out the four bills she needed. Sonya accepted them with a wink and began noisily pawing through the cash register for Kelly's seventy two cents in change.

"Would you like a peppermint, honey?" she asked, as she fished out the coins.

Kelly smiled, but shook her head. "Oh, no thank you." she replied politely. Sonya winked and then slapped a pair of quarters, dimes, and pennies on the counter.

"That's the first time I've ever heard you refuse a piece of candy."

Kelly's hand froze, midway through the act of sweeping her change into her purse. "Excuse me?" she stammered.

Noticing the shock on the young woman's face, Sonya chuckled to herself and stepped out from behind her cash register.

"Surprised, Kelly?" she teased good naturedly. "You come all this way and weren't planning on saying hello to this old lady?"

She stepped around the counter and looked her young friend up and down, marveling at how much she had grown. Still thrown off by her sudden acknowledgement, Kelly's face blushed, and she gave a nervous little laugh.

"I'm sorry." she managed. "I- I didn't think you'd remember me-"

"Oh, I recognized you the second I saw you this morning." Sonya interrupted with a laugh. "Took me awhile to place where I knew your face from, but I sure did recognize you." She extended her arms, and as Kelly had always done, she stepped into them and gave the old woman a hug.

Kelly now stood a few inches taller than her childhood friend, her arms crossed around her back during the hug instead of her waist as it had been when she was younger. Other than that, it felt the same. She inhaled the old woman's scent, a mixture of perfume and peppermint, and remembered the warm, safe, feeling that flooded her every time she spent an afternoon in her presence.

"You've done a good job of growing up." Sonya laughed as the women pulled apart. She held Kelly out at arm's length and shook her head in disbelief. "My God, look at you." she marveled. "You're more beautiful than I thought you'd be." She, because Kelly was now taller, reached up and gently ruffled her hair, being careful not to muss it.

Kelly's already red cheeks flushed even redder with the old woman's compliments. "Th-thank you." she whispered. "You look-"

"Old and wrinkled as usual?" Sonya quipped. She looked Kelly over once more and smiled. "So what brings you back into town, honey?"

Hardly able to find her voice through her shock and embarassment, Kelly shrugged and cleared her throat. "Just- uh- work." she stammered. "I hadn't been back since."

"Where do you call home now?"

"Los Angeles."

Sonya whistled appreciatively. "Big city girl, huh?" she remarked playfully.

Kelly grinned and looked away. "I guess so."

"That's real nice, Kelly." she said proudly. The old woman suddenly looked thoughtful. "You know, I'm real glad I saw you, honey. I would think about you time to time, you know."

No, she hadn't and Sonya's admission made her look away.

"Really?"

"Oh yes." Sonya said sincerely. "You were so quiet. I worried about you sometimes. Then you just stopped coming by one day."

Kelly nodded, hoping her easy going demeanor would ease the old woman's guilt. "I- I moved to California. It was pretty sudden."

The old woman nodded. "I hoped it was something like that. You were such a sweet, little thing." she said with a kind smile. "Still are, from the looks of it."

Kelly blushed, unable to think of a more intelligent reply than a bashful smile. That was all Sonya needed though. She rubbed Kelly's shoulder affectionately and, as if just noticing the few people that had gotten in line behind her, stepped back towards her post.

"Well, honey, you have things to do." she said, still smiling her sweet smile. She handed Kelly her bag of groceries and gave her another hug. "Come by whenever you're in town sweetheart, it's good to see you turned out so well."

Kelly smiled and reluctantly pulled away. "I will. Take care."

With a last smile at her childhood friend, Kelly lifted her bag of groceries and headed towards the door, still numb and reeling from the unexpected reunion. She hadn't wanted to leave so quickly, but after her farewell to Sonya, it would be awkward to loiter around the store. And she was sure she was too old to stand at the counter and watch her work like she used to. So, with less than fifteen minutes killed at the drugstore, Kelly stepped back outside into the June heat and looked around uncertainly. Besides talking to Sonya, that had been a waste of time.

She looked down at the paper bag clutched tightly in her hand. At least she had gotten candy for Jill and Sabrina. Though she probably wouldn't need it if she went back to the neighborhood now.

Wait..

Was she really standing here, planning how she was going to make it up to her friends for a disappointment she had yet to give them? Who exactly was she becoming? Kelly eyed the incriminating bag of sweets in disgust and wearily dropped her arms to her sides.

Maybe it was time to head back.

After rocking on her heels for a few moments, she turned and for the second time in an hour, jogged toward the bus stop she had come from.

* * *

"A Pepsi and a bag of Jolly Ranchers." Sabrina fumed, pacing irritably from side to side in the narrow store aisle. "That's what we put our case- That we are being paid for, mind you- that's what we put our case on hold for? Because Kelly has a sweet tooth? Is that right?"

Jill rolled her eyes and stepped back to prevent Sabrina from trampling over her foot again. "Oh stop." she chided wearily. "You said so yourself, she's been acting strangely."

"I know I did!" Sabrina sighed. "And she is!" She stopped pacing and anxiously rubbed her face. "Ok-" she started. "Ok- maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves, here. Maybe our imaginations are just running wild, ma-"

"Bri!" Jill protested, but Sabrina raised a hand to silence her.

"No, no. Just hear me out. What if we're making something out of nothing, huh? So Kelly is acting weird? So what? She is weird."

Jill crossed her arms, clearly annoyed. "You know there's more to it than that-"

"But what if it's not, huh? What if we're being silly?" Sabrina argued, almost pleadingly. "What if she's just bothered by the nature of this case and there's a simple explanation for everything else?"

"That's a whole lot of coincidences, Bri." Jill pointed out adamantly. "And just because she stopped for a snack doesn't mean she's innocent. I refuse to believe that everything that's happened is just a coincidence."

Sabrina threw up her hands in frustration and resumed pacing. Her first footfall crunched directly over Jill's toes, though she didn't notice it or the glare her friend shot her way. "Jill, come on now. I know you're worried about her- I am too- It's just that maybe - maybe we're jumping to conclusions here a-"

"Who's that?"

Halfway through Sabrina's rambling explanation, Jill's eyes had drifted away in search of something less bothersome and caught sight of an unexpected scene. The complete bewilderment on her face made Sabrina immediately whirl around in the direction she was looking. "Who?"

Jill gestured wildly, ignoring the stares of people around her. "There! That woman with Kelly! At the register!" she whispered harshly.

Sabrina, along with two confused shoppers nearby, turned in the direction of Jill's pointing finger, and found Kelly standing by the distant register, sharing a warm hug with the elderly woman who was working it.

"Well, they're awfully chummy, aren't they?" Sabrina muttered, after a moment of open mouthed staring.

Jill shook her head in disbelief. "I just refuse to believe that's company policy."

"No, it's not." Sabrina agreed quietly. The two girls watched Kelly interact with the old woman, how she fidgeted and nervously tucked her hair behind her ears as she talked, how she lowered her head bashfully like a child being introduced to a parent's friend. It was an endearing display, but not at all how Kelly carried herself around strangers. "She definitely knows her. Which means she's definitely been lying to us."

"Like I definitely said so from the start."

Sabrina narrowed her eyes at Jill and then leaned forward and fixed her gaze on the register at the front of the store. Kelly was leaving now, with a shy smile and a little wave, letting the woman reluctantly return to her job. A tug on her sleeve nearly made her topple over off balance.

"Let's hurry!" Jill said urgently. "Before she gets too far!"

She started forward, Sabrina's sleeve clutched in her hand, but was jerked to a halt when her friend didn't budge.

"Hang on a minute-" Sabrina whispered, prying Jill's fingers away from the now crinkled fabric of her sleeve. "-what's your hurry?"

The dirty look Jill shot her way told her to hurry up and explain her reluctance to follow.

"I have a feeling following her isn't going to do anymore good." Sabrina said quickly. "Look-" she held her watch up to Jill's eyes and pointed to it's face, oblivious to the fact it was upside down from her friend's vantage point. "- it's nearly three. She's gotta be running back to where she said she'd be in the first place. This was her only stop. To see that old lady."

Jill crossed her arms over her chest in a huff and looked longingly through the glass doors at Kelly's retreating form, her long brown hair bouncing off her shoulders and catching the brilliant afternoon sun before turning the corner and disappearing entirely. "Bri-" she started to protest.

"I know, Jill. Just trust me on this. I would go after her if I thought she was up to something."

"She is up to something!" Jill argued. "I thought we agreed on that."

"Oh, she is, she is." Sabrina said quickly, holding up a hand to pacify her. "But for today she's done."

Jill stared at the glass double doors Kelly had stepped out of and sighed. "Ok." she relented, after a moment. "You want to talk to the cashier?"

"You bet I do."

Jill sighed. "What's our angle then?"

Sabrina's face brightened, pleased to have Jill's cooperation. "Do we need an angle? Let's just ask her where she knows Kelly from."

The question made Jill raise a doubtful eyebrow. "You think she'll just tell us?"

"Oh, call me crazy, she has an honest face." Sabrina answered back facetiously. "I mean, come on Jill, look at her. She's what?-a hundred and six? How threatening could she be? Plus she seems to like our Kelly there."

Jill made a face, but begrudgingly agreed. "Ok, ok. I guess you're right." she sighed. "We'll just go talk to her."

Sabrina grinned and clapped her friend roughly on the shoulder. "That's the spirit of seventy six I was looking for!" she joked. Without waiting for further confirmation, she jumped to her feet and jogged over to the temporarily empty aisle to the register. It wasn't until she received a far off puzzled smile from the elderly woman, that she realized how odd it must look to be so enthusiastically approaching the checkout lane empty handed.

Sabrina stopped short, the eager grin of determination wiped off of her face. She turned around in a desperate attempt to abort her spontaneous plan and slammed right into Jill, who thrust something cold into her stomach.

"Oh-" Sabrina stammered in surprise. She instinctively took hold of Jill's gift and looked down to discover that it was two bottles of Pepsi. Jill gave her a piteous look and continued past her to the register, shaking her head sadly. Now sporting a sheepish grin, Sabrina followed close behind.

"Hello, girls." the old woman greeted them. "Is this together?"

"Yes, it is." Jill answered politely. She turned expectantly to Sabrina, who seeing that Jill was making no move to reach into her purse for money, finally dug into her pocket with a sigh.

She handed a few crumpled bills to the old woman, who took them with a friendly smile. "Any big plans for the Fourth?" she asked, smoothing out a sadly wrinkled dollar.

"Getting together with a couple friends." Jill answered, pushing forward. "You probably saw one of them not too long ago." She turned to Sabrina and let out a well placed nervous laugh, that Sabrina did her best to go along with. "We were supposed to meet her here, but we were running late. She must have come and gone."

"Hey, you wouldn't have happened to see her around, would you?" Sabrina chimed in. "Our age, long, brown hair, about five foot seven?"

"Wearing a light blue shirt?" Jill added.

The old woman tilted her head thoughtfully as she bagged the two bottles of soda for them. "Her name wouldn't be Kelly, would it?"

The two girls' faces lit up in excitement, though not for the reason Sonya was thinking.

"Yeah! Kelly, that's her!" Jill added happily. "How'd you know her name?"

Sonya let out a little chuckle and handed the Jill the sodas and Sabrina's change, though Sabrina didn't notice. "I know her. And you missed her not even by two minutes. If you hurry you might be able to catch up with her."

"Hey, thanks!" Sabrina gushed. She made a show of turning eagerly towards the door, as if ready to bolt, then stopped and regarded the elderly cashier thoughtfully. "So, I'm curious. How do you know Kelly?"

Sonya smiled warmly, recalling the shy little girl she had befriend so long ago. "We were friends awhile back."

The charade the girls had been playing of looking for a missing friend instantly vanished at this revelation.

"Friends?" Jill blurted out in bewilderment. "From where?"

"Well, here." Sonya answered, a bit of confusion starting to register on her face. "When she lived here."

"Lived here?" Sabrina echoed.

Sonya raised an eyebrow uncertainly. "Yes. Here in Carson City."

"Carson City?"

Sabrina's increasingly baffled tone only further unsettled the poor cashier. "Yes, Carson City." the old woman continued. "You didn't know she was from here?"

The girls shared a look that gave Sonya her answer. Seeing what she figured to be a misplaced look of confusion on the girl's faces, the old woman laughed.

"Oh, sorry." Jill stammered, seeing the merriment in her eyes. "It's just that she told us she was from Texas. She's lived in California since '68."

Sonya, realizing how very little she actually did know about Kelly, could only shrug. "Oh well, that may be, I suppose. She does have that cute little accent. But she lived here in '65 and '66. That's when I knew her."

Sabrina and Jill both froze.

The girls shot each other a baffled look, neutralized their expressions, and then turned around. The math did not add up the way they had expected it to. In 1966 they were children.

"You knew Kelly as a kid?" Jill blurted out first.

The old woman smiled. "Yes, when she lived here."

"With one of her foster homes?" Jill pressed

Sonya looked confused by her question. "Foster home? No- Oh, well- I suppose she could have, I never met her family. She always came in here alone. Quite a bit too. I never knew why she'd rather spend her time watching me work then playing with her friends, but she was here."

Sabrina and Jill shared another look.

"Really? What would she do?" Sabrina asked.

"Oh, you know, just watch me, I'd tell her stories sometimes. She was a sweet girl, never talked much. I kind of got the idea that she was in some kind of trouble."

Sabrina and Jill didn't even try to hide the fact that they were hanging on the woman's every word.

"Trouble?" Jill breathed.

"Well, that she was just killing time here, or that she didn't want to go home." she answered. Her face took on a pained expression. "Sometimes she had bruises on her. I- I asked her about it, but she wouldn't say much."

When Jill and Sabrina didn't have anything to say, she continued.

"And then- then one day she stopped coming." Sonya said sadly. "I asked around to see if I could find out what had happened, but I didn't even know her last name. I would think about her from time to time, just never stopped feeling guilty, you know? I thought something might have happened to her." She leaned forward anxiously. "But- but she was ok?"

Though her mind was reeling, Jill forced a smile and nodded. "Kelly just moved around a lot as a kid. She never was in a place very long."

The old woman smiled uncomfortably, possibly regretting sharing her young friend's personal information. "That's what she said."

"Was this the first time you've seen her since then?" Sabrina asked.

A teenage couple sauntered over with a few provisions in hand and stepped behind the girls in line, momentarily catching Sonya's attention. Her eyes flicked over to the two kids, then back at Sabrina and Jill. "Yes, it was."

The polite smile the old woman was now giving them said to move along and let her work, yet Jill pressed on. "And you recognized her?"

"I did. Just something about her. I wasn't sure until she smiled and looked at her feet though." Sonya said with a reminiscent chuckle. "She did that when she was little. Some things never change."

"No, some things don't." Sabrina answered softly.

It was clear now, even though she was still being polite, that the old woman's attention was now on the large bag of chips and gallon of ice cream the girl had put on the counter. Deciding they had all they needed, Sabrina tapped her hand lightly on the counter and backed away out of the checkout lane, taking Jill's arm as she passed.

"Hey, you have a great day." she said, with a big grin. "We'll go and catch up with Kelly now."

The old woman, now absorbed in her next customers turned away just long enough to send a cheerful farewell nod at them, before continuing her job. The conversation was over, but for Sabrina and Jill, this was only the beginning.


	14. Chapter 14

**_Sorry for the delay. Busy couple of weeks. _**

**_

* * *

_**Chapter 14

"I can't believe she stood there and just-just-"

Sabrina tilted her head back in frustration and regarded her flustered best friend with a sideways glance. "Lied?" she offered with a weary sigh.

"Yes!" Jill gushed. "Lied! Lied right in our faces!"

"I know, Jill."

"I asked her! You asked her! We both asked her and she sat there and lied!" Jill ranted heatedly, pacing an erratic zigzagged path around Sabrina. "Why couldn't she just tell us? Would it have been so hard to just tell us that she used to live here! When I've been asking her what's wrong over and over and over! She just-just-" The correct descriptive words failed to come, and left with nothing, she let out a strangled cry of frustration and slumped back against the rough brick wall of the alleyway behind the drugstore.

Sabrina rubbed the bridge of her nose and exhaled slowly. "I know, Jill."

"And to sneak around behind our backs like this?" Jill continued, suddenly in possession of speech again. "What about us tells her that she has to keep old friends a secret? Answer me that!"

"Nothing! That's what!" she said fervently, answering her own question just as Sabrina opened her mouth.

Sabrina gave up and shook her head. "I know, Jill." she chorused again.

"Why would she feel like she has to hide that from us? Why didn't she just say right from the beginning- Hey, Jill and Sabrina I used to live here and I know some people!" she sang, adopting and exaggerating Kelly's soft Southern accent. She dropped her impersonation and threw her hands up in exasperation. "Why does she have to be so secretive about everything?"

"I don't know, Jill."

"That liar! Oh, when I see her, I'm going to give her a piece of my mind!" Jill fumed. She paced angrily across the narrow alley once more, then suddenly out of steam, groaned and slumped back against the opposite wall. "What do we do, Bri?" she asked wearily.

Sabrina paused for a moment to assure herself that her friend was done with her rant, then straightened up and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, Jill." she admitted. "But if Kelly didn't want to tell us about her living in Carson City, maybe she had a good reason."

Jill lowered her eyes and nodded her head reluctantly. "I guess so. You know how she is."

"I do." Sabrina answered. "But that doesn't mean we let this go. I want to know why."

"She'll never tell us."

Sabrina scoffed. "I wasn't planning on asking her. Let's see if we can dig up some dirt."

This seemed to unsettle Jill. She frowned and shook her head. "Don't say it like that." she scolded. "She's our Kelly, not some criminal."

Sabrina stared blankly at her for a moment before deciding to move on without question. "Fine." she relented. "Let's-" her lips pursed together as she paused to consider how to rephrase. "- let's respectfully find out some information about her past."

Jill nodded her approval of the patched up statement. "You have a plan?"

"I figured the foster agency would be a good place to start. It might even be the same one Rebecca was with. They're bound to keep records."

"Right, but they aren't going to let us just poke around. We need a cover." Jill pointed out.

"Cover?" Sabrina echoed, a slow smile spreading itself across her face. "Why not just go with the truth this time, huh?"

Jill laughed her disbelief. "Two detectives investigating their partner?" she asked. Her question hung unanswered in the narrow space between them as both girls mentally tested the believability of the story.

"Yeah, only we drop the partner part. They don't have to know that." Sabrina answered after a moment of thoughtful silence. "We're just investigating her. Maybe we were hired by her birth family to locate her for a happy reunion?"

Jill nodded slowly. "That might work."

"It'll work." Sabrina replied confidently. She glanced at her watch and rubbed her hands together in anticipation. "Ok, it's three now. If we hurry, we can be back to pick up Kelly around four thirty. That's still early enough that she won't suspect anything."

"And hopefully she never catches wind of this. Especially from anyone at the agency." Jill added, wincing slightly at the soul crushing consequences that imagined situation would undoubtedly cause. "I don't want to have to explain that to her."

Sabrina shrugged. "Well, that goes without saying." she said dismissively. No, she didn't want to have to explain that to Kelly either, but it wasn't time to dwell on the what ifs. Answers were long overdue, and with Kelly unwilling to provide, they would be forced to find them by any means necessary. With a confident air of resolve put on for both her and Jill's sake, she took Jill's arm and began to lead her out of the alley they had been talking in. "Now let's get back to the car before someone thinks we're conducting illegal business back here." she muttered, looking nervously over both shoulders.

Jill only laughed as she followed her friend out of the shadows.

"Aren't we, though?"

* * *

Twenty minutes later found them easing their rental car into a distant parking space of the Carson City Department of Child Welfare Services lot.

While initially, the girls had been almost excited by their sudden lead, any sense of determination and bravado gradually dissipated during the drive separating the drugstore from their current location. Conversation had been increasingly sparse on the way there, as nerves and a sense of betrayal quietly gnawed at their consciences, replacing their excitment and leaving them distracted and uncomfortably paranoid. The unpleasant tug of guilt, growing stronger as their destination drew closer, left little room in their thoughts for idle chatting. Never before had they felt so much like co-conspirators.

Though, never before had they given a reason. This was, most certainly, uncharted territory.

Despite the slim chance that Kelly knew where they were headed, Sabrina purposely wedged their car in between a hedge and a large maintenance van, intent on obscuring it from street view. Once it was safely hidden from the sight of average passersby, Sabrina and Jill hurried through the mostly empty parking lot, checking nervously over their shoulders for any unlikely sign of Kelly or the bus or taxi she might be a passenger of.

"I wonder what we'll find here." Jill wondered aloud as the pair approached the double glass doors of the building.

Sabrina shook her head. "Don't know yet. Hopefully, something that tells us what she's up to."

Jill nodded silently. A few answers were long overdue, but the fact that they had to sneak around behind Kelly's back to get them, was making her stomach twist up in knots. She quickly reminded herself that Kelly was doing her own share of sneaking around. It was only fair, wasn't it?

She told herself so. But fair or not, the feeling of disloyalty remained.

"I wonder if Kelly is feeling like this." she asked, as they skipped up the several stone steps.

Sabrina must have been feeling the exact same feelings as she was, Jill realized an instant later, because instead of turning to her in confusion, her friend only shrugged and pursed her lips.

"Don't know." Sabrina muttered quietly. "If she is, she's sure not letting it stop her." She sighed deeply and pulled open one of the doors for them to slip inside. "C'mon, let's just get started."

Jill nodded and stepped inside. A blast of much welcome cool air hit her the moment she did, ruffling her hair, and making her realize, by contrast, how hot it was outside. The air conditioner wasn't the only welcoming aspect. The office lobby was small but immaculately kept, with shiny tiled floors, polished counters, and tasteful decorations.

Sabrina eyed the tall potted plants, the cushioned bench against the far wall, and the stylishly framed paintings hanging on the walls and whistled appreciatively.

"Looks like a bank." she remarked quietly. Jill, too busy taking in the elegant lobby, only nodded silently in agreement.

"Can I help you ladies?"

Both girls turned to the frizzy haired, smiling middle-aged woman leaning over the counter to get their attention, and shared a quick look.

"Uh, yeah." Sabrina answered for them both. "Yeah, I hope you can." She plastered a friendly grin on her face and, with Jill a step behind her, approached the counter and casually rested her elbows on top of it. "Listen, uh-" she glanced at the silver embossed nameplate sitting on the counter. "- Linda, I was hoping we could get some information about a child that may have been placed by this agency-"

As if they had just announced intent to rob her, the woman immediately pulled back and crossed her arms, her friendly, open demeanor instantly closing off and icing over. "Oh, I'm not allowed to give information about the children we've placed." she answered curtly, her lips set in a stern line across her chubby face."It's a violation of our policy, a-"

"No, no!" Sabrina cut her off. "This child in particular isn't a child anymore. She's an adult now. 'Bout our age."

Linda relaxed a bit, but still eyed her two visitors suspiciously. "I don't fully understand." she admitted with a forced smile.

"We're both private detectives." Jill spoke up, stepping forward and shouldering Sabrina aside. "I'm Jill Munroe-" she jerked her thumb at her friend and Sabrina grinned sheepishly and waved." -and this is Sabrina Duncan. We work for the Townsend Detective Agency in L.A." As she introduced herself and Sabrina, she dug into her purse and produced a business card, which she quickly handed to the still uneasy receptionist.

Linda looked at both sides of the card before gently laying it down and smiling hesitantly. "I see." she said quietly. "So what exactly are you looking for?"

With a foot in the door, Jill tilted her head expectantly towards Sabrina.

"Well, our client is looking for the daughter she had to give up as a baby in 1954. We have reason to believe that she may have lived here in Carson City." Sabrina explained. "Do you keep records on all of the children that pass through the system?"

Linda chewed her lip thoughtfully before answering. "Well, we do have records. However, I don't know if they would go back over twenty years."

"How about ten years, then?" Sabrina said quickly. "Now, we do know some things about her. We were able to find her birthplace in Texas, and trace her through some orphanages and foster homes. That's where the trail runs a little cold, see- " she quickly pulled out a piece of paper Jill had been doodling notes on in the car and smoothed it out against the counter as if it was important. " -we've been just managing to trace the places she's lived in, in order, one at a time, just kind of following her along. This is the only way we're going to ever have any hope of finding her. And the last place we went to points us in your direction." she smiled broadly. "Here in Carson City. In 1966. When she was twelve or thirteen."

Linda nodded slowly and fingered the business card thoughtfully between her fingers. "Well-" she started.

"Look, we weren't supposed to bring this up, but her birth father is dying, and he wants to set things right before he goes." Jill added sadly. "He wants to find his daughter, make sure she turned out ok, and ask her forgiveness."

Sabrina raised her eyebrows in impressed surprise at Jill's adlib, then fixed her gaze on the receptionist behind the counter. Linda was staring at their card, bending it between her thumb and forefinger as she processed all she had been told. Finally, just as Sabrina and Jill began frantically racing through more persuasion tactics , she looked up and smiled.

"All right." Linda said, nodding slowly. "I suppose if it's just archives, it'll be alright to help you." She took a final glance at the card before gently laying it on the counter. "You can go into the records office in the back. We keep everything in filing cabinets, and they're organized by year. You'll find a drawer marked 1966. If her records are in there, that's where you'll find them."

Jill and Sabrina's face both lit up.

"Thanks very much." Sabrina gushed. "Really, thank you."

Linda smiled again and motioned the girls to a door that separated the lobby from the offices they could see behind the counter. The girls followed her through a narrow hallway and past a handful of workstations where a few other shabby looking government employees sat yawning, pouring over stacks of papers and files. The employees glanced up briefly, and even though the two detectives presence was probably going to be the most interesting thing to happen all day, quickly looked away and continued their work.

If the lobby was beautiful, the offices behind it didn't reflect a bit of it. The deeper the three women walked into the recesses of the building, the shabbier and more worn looking the carpet became, the barer the walls, the dingier and lower the ceiling, and the more dimly lit the halls. By the time Linda stopped in front of the door she was looking for, a closet simply marked "Archives", Jill and Sabrina felt as if they were being led down from the unkempt building into the mouth of a cave.

"Here we go." Linda said absently. She fumbled with a ring of keys for a few moments, muttering to herself and leaving the girls standing shoulder to shoulder in the cramped, poorly lit hallway, wondering just what forgotten ruins lay beyond the thin wooden door. "Take your time, girls. You can look all you want, but please remember, you can't take anything out of here."

"Yes, ma'am." Sabrina said with a smile. "Thanks."

Linda swung the door open, the hinges creaking loudly in protest of it's disuse, and reached in to pull the light cord in the middle of the room. "Well, have at it." she said with a smile. "I'll be at the counter when you're finished."

The girls nodded their thanks and then peeked into the drab looking room and frowned. There wasn't much space for two people to work. Past the swinging light cord, a row of tall, ancient looking filing cabinets lined the entire scuffed and peeling back wall. To complete the theme of disarray and neglect, dusty, crumpled boxes were stacked haphazardly around the room, overflowing with stacks of papers, newspapers, and assorted knick knacks.

Jill and Sabrina shared a look and stepped inside.

"Well, this- this is nice, huh?" Sabrina muttered, leaning back to dodge the light cord.

Jill scoffed and ran a finger across the top of the nearest filing cabinet, leaving a bright strip of cleanliness that was a stark contrast to the rest of the dusty surface around it. "Yeah." she answered. "I guess the maid doesn't have the key."

"Seems that way." Sabrina answered. She stepped over to the filing cabinets and began examining the cracked and yellowed labels on each drawer. "I think the oldest ones are over here on the left."

Jill wiped her hands on her pants and followed her friend's pointed finger to the only black filing cabinet in the room. As Sabrina thought, the first drawer was marked Jan. '60- Mar. '61. Her eyes scanned down three drawers to where the faded and peeling strip of paper taped to it read Aug. '65 - Jun. '66. The one directly below it had a label that was long faded beyond readability, but due to the label on the bottom drawer, must have contained the remainder of the year they were searching for.

"'66 is split." she sighed glumly. "I don't know what month she might have been moved here, so I'm guessing you don't either."

"No, I don't." Sabrina answered simply. "Good guess."

Jill heaved another sigh and then grabbed for the higher drawer. "I'll take this one?"

"And I'll take the bottom one." Sabrina replied. "You might as well go through the files from '65. We know that she lived here in '66, she might have been placed a little earlier than that."

"Good idea." Jill agreed quietly. She yanked out the entire two drawers and, with Sabrina's help, carried them to the far wall and rested them on top of the flattest box she could find. She watched Sabrina pull out her own drawer and get comfortable on the floor beside it before smiling and shaking her head. "See you in a few hours." she giggled. Sabrina looked up and grinned back before the girls immersed themselves in the pasts of countless children from years ago.

Just shy of an hour later, Jill let out a groan and stepped away from her file drawer.

"What's up?" Sabrina asked hopefully.

In response, Jill sneezed into the crook of her arm and rubbed her eyes wearily. "Nothing's up." she muttered. "I've been through this entire file and I haven't-" she paused to sneeze again. "-found a damn thing about Kelly." She rubbed her sore, tired eyes and then leaned back to crack her stiff spine. She sniffled as she did and then sneezed a third time, sending dust flying off of the surface of a nearby cabinet. "And now I think this place has given me asthma." she whined.

Sabrina smiled gently at her cranky friend. Jill wasn't one to be cooped up inside for long. "Well-" she replied, raising an open palm. "-if it makes you feel any better, the only thing I found was a really good way to get papercuts."

"Oh good." Jill muttered sarcastically. "I was afraid we were wasting our time."

Despite the dank, dusty air of the room and the fact that in her uncharacteristically sour mood, Jill probably hadn't meant to be funny, Sabrina started to laugh. "Look, I'm almost done here. Why don't you start on an older file? Maybe she moved here in '64."

Jill groaned and shuffled off to obey. "I really thought we'd find something here, ya know." she mumbled as she pulled open the drawer above Sabrina's head. "Where can we look if we strike ou-"

"Oh!" Sabrina cried suddenly. There was a crash and startled, Jill jumped back in alarm. The files files in front of her face bounced up from their place with a cloud of dust and settled back down.

"Bri- wha-?" she stammered in bewilderment.

"Sorry! Hit my head!" Sabrina cried excitedly, clambering to her feet. "Look! Here! I found it!"

Jill winced and pressed her hand against the top of Sabrina's head, though apparently her friend seemed to be too excited to feel pain. "The file? Kelly's file?" Jill asked urgently, reaching around for the package Sabrina was holding. "Did you find it? Is that it?"

Sabrina nodded happily and flipped open the worn manila folder in her hand. "Yeah look! Garrett, Kelly. June 1966. This is her!"

Jill pulled her friend's arm down to get a better look. As reported, there was all the information Sabrina had announced, printed on an ink smudged blue and white label. "Wow. That's it." she mused quietly.

Sabrina nodded again and opened the file to the first page. Though every other child's records started from birth, for reasons unknown Kelly's began in December of 1964. Scribbled or typed correspondence on yellowed pieces of paper from unknown hands spilled out from the folder, scattered and disorganized, the course of Kelly's childhood hidden somewhere inside.

Sabrina bit her lip, rested the thin folder between her and Jill's arms, and delicately scooped the loose papers out to arrange then more neatly. The removal of the papers revealed a black and white photo stapled to the inside of the file.

Jill and Sabrina's mouths fell open at the sight of it. The photo, dated 12-5 1964, was of a young child, unsmiling and nervous looking, and though the girl couldn't have been more than ten or eleven years old, the dark hair, the high cheekbones, and the familiar expression told them that it was undoubtedly a childhood photo of Kelly.

"Wow, that's Kelly alright." Sabrina whispered quietly, after a moment of silent gawking.

Jill leaned in closer and ran her fingertips gently over the photo in disbelief. "Aw, look at her." she mused. "December 5th, she'd just turned eleven. She was a cutie."

Sabrina smiled softly at the young version of her best friend. "Yeah, looks like she wants to punch the person on the other side of the camera, though. Doesn't look too happy, does she?"

Jill shook her head and flipped over a few pages. "I wouldn't be either." she replied softly. "Look how many places she's lived. God, Oklahoma, Arizona, Kansas- I knew she moved around a lot, but- but not like this."

Three additional photos of Kelly were found buried within the loose papers in her file, labeled respectively in scrawled black marker, 10-7-65, 1-25-66, and June '66. Sabrina pulled them out and spread them across the open file in their arms. The slightly older versions of Kelly in the pictures didn't differ much from each other. Each photo Kelly was unsmiling, uncomfortable looking, her changing clothes and varying hair length the only real difference.

"Kelly at eleven and twelve." Jill mused quietly. "I guess they took pictures each time she moved."

Sabrina scanned through a few typed correspondence letters in her friend's file and then shook her head. "No, just every time more than a few months went by, I guess." she answered. "Look how many times she moved in '65. Poor kid."

She frowned and pulled aside the photo from June 1966 to set down on a nearby box. "This is out of order." she remarked, pointing out the date to Jill. "This has to be the picture they took of her when she got to Carson City."

Jill nodded, and the girls skimmed through a few more documents, following Kelly's life through several different orphanages and failed attempts at foster homes in almost as many states, until finally, the familiar Nevada state flag they had been seeing all week stared back at them from a letterhead.

"This has to be it." Jill whispered, her blue eyes widening in anticipation. Sabrina chewed her bottom lip nervously and the girls, though they knew they were alone in the tiny storage room and far away from Kelly, looked over their shoulders and around the room before taking their find over to a corner and sitting down against a stack of boxes to read. It had to be done, but felt wrong all the same.

"That's weird." Sabrina muttered after a few minutes of sifting through documents. She lifted the paper in her hand and stared at both sides of it as if looking for something she might have missed.

"What?" Jill asked.

Sabrina pawed through a few more papers and frowned. "It doesn't say where she lived here. All the other places did. Becky's files did."

Jill's brows furrowed in confusion and after a few minutes of aiding Sabrina in her search, discovered her friend was right.

"That is weird." Jill echoed. "There's a lot missing from here. Look, this file isn't nearly as thick as all the other ones."

"No, it's not." Sabrina replied slowly. "Why is that, Jill?"

"I don't know. Bad organization? Maybe they dropped it. This stuff was everywhere."

"Maybe." Sabrina said reluctantly. There were a few sheets of paper left clipped to the backside of the folder, and with no other answers yet found, she began to thumb through them. As she did, a heavy scrap of paper slipped out of the slanted folder and fluttered to the floor by their feet. Jill bent over to retrieve it immediately.

"April 1967." she read quietly, gazing at what turned out to be yet another file photo of their friend. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern. "This one is- it's different, Bri. She's thirteen in this one-" She turned her head to Sabrina, expecting her friend to show some interest in seeing the newly acquired photo. To her surprise, Sabrina was staring intently at a previously folded document, her brown eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"And in trouble." Sabrina whispered. To answer the question Jill hadn't yet asked, she set the open file down on the stack of boxes and held her document out in front of her friends face. The room was silent for a few seconds, as Jill's eyes wandered desperately over the aged document in front of her face, searching for the answer to her question. She found it soon after.

"Police? A detention center?" she read in disbelief. "Kelly? But- she was so young - I thought she didn't get in trouble until she was older-"

"So did I." Sabrina sighed, pulling the document away and placing it back in its file. "But, maybe that has something to do with her missing information. The trail stops there. And maybe that's why she's been so jumpy."

Jill sighed and picked up the most recent photo of Kelly she had just found. "It also might explain this picture."

Sabrina craned her neck to see and immediately frowned.

The photo, the only one of the group in color, depicted an older version of Kelly. Less than a year separated this photo from the one chronologically before it, yet the girl in the picture looked much older, haunted and distrusting. Her face was shadowed by the severe lines of her jaw and cheekbone, making it blatantly obvious that the girl had lost an unhealthy amount of weight since her previous photo, her features not only unsmiling, but hiding anger underneath. The addition of color also made it easier to see the slight discolorations on her face, bruises and cuts that had failed to heal in time for the snapshot.

"Something happened between these two pictures." Jill said quietly. She stepped away from the photo and shook her head. "But, I don't get it. How can a thirteen year old kid get in so much trouble?"

Sabrina shrugged her shoulders and gazed at Kelly's photograph again. Past the cuts and bruises, the gaunt, too-thin face, and straight to the familiar and unmistakable "go to hell" look in the girl's green eyes. She cleared her throat and began neatly stacking together all the sheets of paper she had pulled out of Kelly's file.

"Well, Jill-" she answered after a moment. "- this is our Kelly we're talking about. And I believe she is the only person who can answer that."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Were they running late?

Or had she missed them completely?

What if they were out there looking for her right now, growing more and more worried with every passing second? In that case, she should go looking for them, shouldn't she? But what if they hadn't yet arrived and came back to find her gone?

Kelly stopped pacing, tipped her head back, and let out an angry curse of frustration slip through her clenched teeth.

Why hadn't she just stayed put? Done what she'd said she would, instead of traipsing around town like a distracted child. Was she really that restless that an hour of pacing around the neighborhood wouldn't have cured her?

Just in time to interupt her increasingly frantic train of thought, a car came rumbling down the street and Kelly whirled around to face it, unmindful of how strange her behavior might look from afar.

When what she hoped was Sabrina and Jill's rental car turned out to be a worthless green van in dire need of a tune up, she groaned and irritably kicked up a mound of nearby pebbles. They scattered across the street in a hundred different directions, accomplishing nothing but catching the attention of a stray dog strolling across the street. Kelly sighed and anxiously rubbed her temples.

Stupid. So very, very, stupid she had been. Jill was right. She wasn't thinking clearly.

Another crunch of gravel had her turning frantically on her heels, thoughts abandoned in favor of another surge of hope. She fought the urge to collapse with relief when, this time, her eyes finally found what she'd been so desperate to find.

There they were. Finally.

But she couldn't relax yet. She gave them a half hearted wave and began walking forward, relieved to see them, but not yet sure if this was their first trip back for her.

Hopefully it was.

The rental car rolled closer until she could see Jill and Sabrina's faces through the glare the sun was cutting into the windshield. Jill was waving happily from the front seat, her usual friendly grin plastered on her face and the sight made Kelly's shoulders slump in relief. They weren't angry. This had to be the first time they had come looking for her.

The car coasted to a stop a few yards away and Kelly smiled and broke into a jog. The paper bag of Jolly Ranchers crinkled merrily against her thigh as she did, reminding her with a start about their incriminating presence.

Dammit, she thought to herself, though she forced the smile to stay painted on her face. She'd forgotten she'd bought a bag of damning evidence. Another stupid decision to add to her pile.

Really racking them up, Garrett.

"Hey, Kell." Sabrina greeted, as she pulled open the door and hopped into the backseat. The paper bag crumpled as loudly as possible, practically screaming to be noticed. Kelly quickly tossed it to the floorboard. Maybe they wouldn't even mention it.

"Hey." she greeted back nonchalantly. "How'd it go?"

Jill turned in her seat to talk to her. "Didn't get too much." she answered with a grin. Her blue eyes immediately rested on the paper bag Kelly was unsuccessfully trying to hide with her feet. "What's that?" she asked, pointing her finger.

Leave it to Jill.

Kelly suppressed the frustrated groan in her throat with a smile and lightly plucked it up. "Candy. One of the neighbors gave it to me." she lied smoothly, surprising even herself at how quickly and easily it had sprung from her mouth, out of nowhere and without any hesitation or prior contemplation. Second nature to the deceitful liar she was. "You know how old ladies are. I guess I looked hungry." she said casually. She rifled disinterestedly through the bags contents, as if for the first time, and then tilted it towards her two friends. "Want some?"

"Ooh." Jill marveled appreciatively. She dug into the bag, pulled up a handful of sweets, and turned back around to deposit a few in Sabrina's waiting palm. "Thanks, Kell. I saw these in the drugstore this morning and I've been craving them ever since."

Kelly shook off the creeping sense of suspicion Jill's seemingly innocent comment had caused. "Well, that's probably where she got them from." she brushed off lightly. "Anyway, I completely struck out here. Did you two get anything?"

Jill and Sabrina shared a look that made Kelly's stomach turn.

"Oh, we did." Sabrina answered. "We got a lot." She looked at Jill again. "None of it useful to our case though, unfortunately."

Kelly's muscles tensed. "Oh? Why not?" she asked, her tone carefully guarded.

Sabrina shrugged. "'Cause nothing we found makes James Hanover look any more innocent than when we started."

"Oh." Kelly responded quietly. Having expected something worse, she rolled up the paper bag of sweets, set it aside, and finally let her tense muscles relax in temporary relief. "So now what?"

Sabrina one handedly unwrapped a piece of candy and popped it in her mouth. "Well, now-" she said, through her treat. "-now, I guess we need to go back to his house and give the little missus another visit. There's got to be something we've missed."

"Sounds like a good idea, Bri." Jill piped up, at least three pieces of candy puffing out her right cheek. "Maybe one of us should stay there tonight and see what kinda characters show up. Kelly? You wanna do that? She hates me like a disease."

It was both due to the candy she was in the process of putting in her mouth and an enormous amount of willpower that kept Kelly's face from contorting in horror at the suggestion.

Ignoring her pounding heart, she looked up, grateful for the piece of candy to roll around and disguise any instinctive nervous tics her mouth might be doing. "I don't know, she doesn't seem to like me too much either." she managed, as calmly as possible. "Maybe you should do it, Bri."

Sabrina shrugged easy acceptance. "Alright." she agreed. "Let's go back to room and I'll give her a call. No point in all three of us going over there."

The car lapsed into an increasingly uncomfortable silence, until finally, Sabrina flipped on the radio. Instead of music though, a woman's solemn voice filled the car.

Kelly rolled her eyes when she realized the woman was reporting a few bits of local news. And in keeping with her luck, they'd tuned in just as the crime portion of her report was beginning. The three listened quietly for a few seconds while the woman's voice reminded them of what a dark and ugly place the world could be. After a few moments, Jill decided she wasn't interested and struck up conversation with Sabrina in the front seat.

But, Kelly only strained her ears to listen, a sense of morbid curiousity leading her to follow the stories she'd been hearing about since their arrival. Through her two friend's giggles and banter, she was able to catch scattered updates of the crimes she'd been following.

Still no leads in either the convienance store robbery or the high school vandalism. Another hate crime at the community center, probably the work of the same mean-spirited person, had sparked an uproar in the neighborhood. The would be kidnapper was still no more than an artist depiction and a tipline, not any closer to being caught than he was yesterday. The suspected murderer of the woman in the ditch, now identified as twenty three year old Jared Wilkinson, had been found but managed to evade arrest. He'd probably get away with his crime. Just like the kidnapper, just like the vandals, just like the intolerant bigot at the community center.

And if their investigation was successful, just like James Hanover. Unpunished and free to leave another family shattered and empty.

The news report ended and the upbeat rock music Jill had set the dial on floated from the speakers, a few minutes too late to salvage Kelly's mood.

Kelly sighed and closed her eyes. The car ride was smooth and the candy wasn't bad, yet her stomach felt as if it was twisted in many knots that she'd never be able to eat again. Deciding it would be impossible to swallow it, Kelly spit her piece of candy out in her hand and quickly wrapped it up in a receipt from her purse. She glanced up at the rearview mirror as she did and recieved a reflected grin from Sabrina.

Though it was as normal as could be, Kelly felt her blood run cold.

They knew something.

They did. They weren't acting like it, but maybe that was the problem. Jill had stopped harping, Sabrina had stopped acting suspicious and both were now sending her warm smiles through the rearview mirror. Kelly's stomach lurched again and she fought the urge to grimace in pain. She never got nervous to the point of physical ailment unless there was a reason.

And, despite what Sabrina and Jill seemed to want her to believe, there was a reason.

* * *

Jill sat quietly on the foot of her bed, staring thoughtfully at one of the photos of Kelly she had snuck into her purse. Maybe it was her sentimental side overtaking her sense of logic, but she couldn't bring herself to leave them behind. And so, while Sabrina had been occupied with cleaning up their mess, she'd slipped them into her purse without a word. It was, of course, breaking the one and only rule that Linda the receptionist had given them, but after seeing the careless state of Kelly's records, the jumbled mess they had made of her entire childhood, she decided that it didn't matter. No would ever notice and if someone did, it was doubtful they would care.

It was nearing seven in the evening now. The girls had taken a working dinner before Sabrina took the rental and left for the Hanover's. After half an hour of watching television and participating in awkward and strained chit chat, Kelly excused herself to take a shower, leaving Jill alone with her thoughts for the first time in a long while. She sighed and turned the worn photo over in her hand, as if a clue to what was bothering her friend would be hidden somewhere in its black and white depths. Kelly's eleven year old face, framed against a blank white wall, stared back at her, nervous, scared looking, unsure of herself with what probably had been a group of strange and new people.

Jill frowned and set the photograph facedown on the bed. Of the four pictures she had seen of her friend, this one disturbed her the least. Kelly's face, her unhappiness, her apprehensiveness in only four split second instances of her life, painted a disturbingly accurate picture of her entire childhood. Especially the last one. Though her sentimental nature had at first led her to steal the youngest picture of Kelly out of her file, it was the most recent snapshot, the malnourished and battered picture that had really stayed with her.

And so, on impulse, she'd taken them all.

Jill stared silently at the back of the creased photo lying on the bed. What had happened to her friend? A fight in school? An accident? That would explain away the cuts and bruises, but not her pinched, bony appearance.

Had it been a cruel foster parent?

The idea and all the implications that came with it made her sick and not wanting to dwell anymore on it, Jill tucked the photo back in her purse and swept it to the floor. No wonder Kelly was so upset. She didn't speak much about her past, gave only general descriptions if asked and only the vaguest details if pressed. There'd been abuse in her childhood, she had suspected as much from Kelly's behavior from the start, even before her friend had admitted it. If just seeing a sad looking childhood picture of Kelly made her heart ache, how would Kelly herself, who had actually lived through it, feel being forced to relive it?

A wave of guilt washed over her and Jill wearily rubbed her face with both hands. Was Kelly's shifty behavior really only a means to escape having to relive whatever had happened to her here? Or was she up to something, hiding herself, or tracking down someone she'd thought long forgotten?

Whatever it was, it didn't matter, Jill decided firmly. Her and Sabrina had to keep her safe and if Kelly wouldn't allow it, they'd be forced to do it without her permission.

The bathroom door opened, interrupting any further mental affirmations she was giving herself, and Kelly stepped out, loosely dressed and toweling her damp hair with both hands.

"Hey. That was quick." Jill called, unconsciously kicking her purse under the bed. "Enjoy your shower?"

Kelly flopped down on her bed and dropped the towel to her lap. "A blast, Jill." she muttered, running a hand through her wet hair. "It's all yours."

"I'll go in a minute, Kell." Jill answered quietly. She got up and repositioned herself on Kelly's bed. "I kind of want to talk to you."

As she expected, this put Kelly instantly on guard though she hid it well.

"Yeah?" Kelly asked casually. "About what?"

Jill stared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and plunging headlong into what would probably be a very unpleasant conversation. "Where did you get that bag of candy from?" she started.

Kelly's lips curved into an uncertain smile. "The candy? I told you, I got it from one of the ladies while-"

"No, you didn't." Jill cut her off sternly.

Despite the fact that Jill's accusation was both unexpected and true, Kelly did a good job of looking baffled. "Yes, I did." she insisted earnestly. "She was the only one that offered me anything."

"Stop lying."

Kelly's features contorted in genuine surprise at Jill's bluntness. "What is wrong with you?" she half laughed, half shouted. "Was it that good? You want more cause maybe I can ask her where she got them."

Jill scoffed and angrily crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You don't have to. I know where she got them." Her blue eyes suddenly narrowed into an accusatory glare. "Or where you got them, actually."

Her second accusation didn't make Kelly flinch and Jill found her calm behavior infuriating. Instead, Kelly started to laugh. "Jill, go take a cold shower." she sighed. "I think this heat is getting to your head."

"Why did you lie about where you got the candy?"

Kelly groaned in frustration and slapped her towel irritably by her side on the bed. "Jill-" she started evenly. "Why are you stuck on this?"

"You went to the drugstore after you finished talking to the neighbors."

"No, I didn't." Kelly answered wearily.

Jill narrowed her eyes, steeling herself for what was very soon going to be a loud argument between them. It didn't matter. Her friend had a great deal of explaining to do and she was going to start now, whether she wanted to or not. Kelly began drying her hair in an attempt to ignore the conversation, and exasperated by her avoidance, Jill reached forward and yanked the damp towel out of her hands.

"Jill-" Kelly protested.

"No!" Jill shouted angrily. "I watched you, Kelly! You got on a bus, you went to the drugstore, you bought that bag of candy, you talked to the cashier and then you went back to the neighborhood and you pretended you hadn't left! Why?"

Kelly froze, stunned by Jill's accuracy. But other than her blank expression, showed nothing of the jolt of panic that had her heart pounding frantically in her chest. She sighed and began to button the cuffs on her sleeve with unsteady hands. "Why were you following me?" she asked, without looking up.

"Because you've been acting so weird and you won't tell me why." Jill snapped back.

"Getting a snack is acting weird?" Kelly asked again, her voice eerily calm. Unable to button her sleeves without betraying her nerves, she crossed her arms and busied herself pulling on her shoes. "I wouldn't expect that from you of all people. So I got a snack. Who cares? I even shared it with you."

Jill sighed, and for the briefest moment, wished she could swat her friend across the head so she'd get some eye contact. It wasn't going to happen though. Instead, she reached out and took hold of Kelly's arm.

"Then why did you lie about it if it wasn't such a big deal?" she challenged.

Kelly had been ready for that, however. Her response was immediate and easy. "I didn't want you two to think I was goofing off, that's all." She pulled her arm away, snatched her towel back, and walked to the other side of the room.

Jill watched her in disbelief, Kelly's nonchalant behavior making her want to scream. Would she really lose this argument?

No, she told herself. Because she'd just remembered something Kelly had neglected to mention and couldn't possibly explain away. She stood up and set her features in determination.

"How did you know that cashier?" she demanded.

Kelly's back was to her, and she suddenly realized that her friend had probably done that purposely. And if she had, she was more nervous and agitated than she was letting on. It didn't look it, but she had to be gaining some ground with her. She just had to be.

After a beat of silence, Kelly only shrugged. "What cashier, Jill?" she asked wearily.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. The cashier that you hugged and acted like you knew, Kelly."

"Jill, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Jill let out a derisive laugh and threw out her hands. "Oh Kelly, stop! I saw you!"

"Then you misunderstood what you saw. So, she gave me a hug. She's just a friendly old woman."

Hopeless. Arguing was hopeless with her. The situation was quickly slipping out of her hands, and sensing the impending end of it, Jill racked her brain for anything else to keep it going. "Kelly, did you used to live here?" she blurted out desperately. "Answer me!"

Kelly sighed, gave up on fixing her hair, and quickly tied it back. "No." she said shortly. "Look, I'm gonna go to the mall and see if I find something there." She grabbed her purse and began making her way to the door.

Unbelieving of how passive her best friend was being, completely infuriated by her bold face lying, Jill jumped to her feet, almost too aggravated to speak. "Kelly-" she started angrily. "Don't run away again."

But, Kelly ignored her and, though it drove Jill mad, carried on as if nothing was wrong. "See you later, Jill." she called lightly over her shoulder, just as if she were leaving after a carefree evening of watching television.

"Kelly!" Jill yelled desperately. "Stop!"

Deaf to her cries, Kelly walked out the door and shut it firmly behind her, leaving Jill standing in the middle of the room, shoulders and chest heaving in fury. She stared in disbelief at the door Kelly had left through for a few moments before whirling around and letting loose a mouthful of curses. That had been stupid. So very, very stupid. How could she have expected Kelly to relinquish any information? How, after three years of knowing her, living with her, working with her, could she have possibly imagined her guarded and secretive best friend to open up to her, even when faced with a wall of irrefutable evidence.

Stupid. Stupid and careless.

They had an advantage over her and she had just given them away.

Jill sank onto her bed, suddenly overcome by a crushing wave of self loathing and helplessness. On a whim, she snatched up the towel Kelly had left behind and flung it angrily across the room. It sailed end over end over the bed before splatting against the wall above her nightstand, flopping across it's surface, and sliding to the floor, taking with it a water glass she'd left there last night. The fallen glass clinked against the slightly open drawer and fell with a heavy thud to the floor.

Jill groaned as she watched the water soak into the thick carpet. At least there was a towel on hand to clean it up her spilled drink, she thought dismally. Though, it certainly wasn't the biggest mess she'd made in the last two minutes. She dropped her head in her hands and sighed heavily.

Sabrina was going to kill her.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

It was still and windless outside and the arrival of night had thankfully cooled the air to bearable temperatures. But as her jog slowed by the familiar bus stop, Kelly had too much on her mind to be relieved about timing.

Jill was on track. Right on track to uncovering what she'd been trying so hard to hide.

They'd been following her, Kelly's brain screamed frantically. The words echoed in her skull over and over, again and again until she could hardly hear the city noise around her.

How? Why? What did they know? What had they seen?

Fresh panic fluttered in her chest, mingling with an overpowering sense of betrayal and suddenly she could no longer sit down and wait for the bus. Ignoring the strange looks her erratic behavior was earning her from the two middle aged women sitting on the bench, Kelly shuffled her feet indecisively, and then broke into an impulsive run.

She had to get away. Right now. Get as far away as possible. That was the only way she could think.

Footsteps pounding the pavement, she hurried toward the intersection of the busy street a few blocks away, ignoring the bewildered stares, ducking and weaving around trash cans and people in her way, and pushing past a group of construction workers loitering outside a store. Her lungs ached, her legs burned, but she sprinted several blocks before common sense was able to catch up.

Kelly dug her heels into the ground and forced herself to a stumbling, panting halt.

What the hell was she doing? Was this what it felt like to go crazy?

She gave a cry of surprise when her entire body was shoved out of the way, shouldered aside by the irritated woman in who's path she had unknowingly stopped. Her arms instinctively splayed out to catch herself as she stumbled backwards, both hands grappling at the rough surface of the brick wall behind her.

Apparently, she hadn't been the only one rushing down the sidewalk.

More embarrased than angry, Kelly quickly regained her balance and turned to watch the rapidly diminishing silhouette of the still muttering woman who'd pushed her. It hadn't hurt really. On the contrary, the harmless scrapes on her hands and the slight jolt her bodys impact with the wall had given her, had managed to shake loose the hysteria threatening to take hold.

Calm down, Kelly, she told herself sternly. Don't lose it now.

A few people passed by and Kelly was reminded by their turned heads and whispering of how strange she might look. Wincing from both embarrasement and the sting from her scraped hand, she straightened upright and stepped away from the wall she'd been leaning against. She wiped her hands on her jeans, took a nervous look around, and tried to silently catch her breath.

She was getting worked up over nothing, she scolded herself. Acting like a lunatic for no reason. There was absolutely nothing she had to reveal to them if she didn't want to. They could ask all they wanted, but nothing would force her to relive the events of her childhood anymore than she already was. And this wouldn't stop her from doing her job. They'd see. They'd see that this was nothing. And then maybe they'd just let it go before it was too late.

Her mind made up but no less calmed, Kelly took a deep breath, ignored the unsettling jittery feelings of dread, and resumed walking at a controlled pace.

She'd just do her job. That would show them, prove to them that this wasn't affecting her, that she could do her job no matter the circumstances.

Kelly stopped, took a deep lungful of the warm night air, and tried to get her bearings.

Where was the mall?

Her head turned right, left, then behind her.

Where was she?

It took a few wrong turns and the help of a passing stranger, but after a few minutes, Kelly was pointed in the correct direction and on her way. What had started out as an excuse to Jill to get herself out of the motel room, was now a reality, a full fledged plan of attack, and as Kelly walked, her nimble mind began to map out a strategy. She'd have to get there first, though and the mall was slightly farther than a comfortable walk.

Headlights illuminated the street from behind her as she walked, unconsciously making Kelly turn her head. She watched silently as the bus she could have taken rolled passed, taking its light with it and leaving her alone, washed in the dim light of the streetlamps above her head.

The bus disappeared and she felt a slight pang of regret for not waiting for it. But, she sighed and quickly shrugged it off. There was alot of thinking to do, alot of nervous energy to burn, and maybe a long walk would give her just the time and release she needed.

* * *

The soft music she'd been listening to on her radio was interupted by a new flash, and though it appeared important, the interruption annoyed her.

Sabrina sighed and closed her eyes as the man's urgent voice took the place of the song she'd been enjoying. Because she lacked the energy to change the station, she listened dutifully to his rapidly delivered report and felt a faint glimmer of recognition in his words. In particular, she recognized a name. Jared Wilkinson.

They'd heard the name a few times since arriving in Carson City, but she hadn't paid too much attention to the hype. Now curious and a captive audience member, she listlessly tuned in for details.

Apparently the young man, a murder suspect, had been tracked down and was now involved in a standoff with Carson City police. The reporter's voice rattled off more information before seemingly taking his first breath in minutes and promising more updates as they happened. He gave a few quick words assuring her that her previously scheduled program would resume, there was a beat of silence, and it did.

The last four seconds of the song she'd been listening to resumed from the silence and Sabrina rolled her eyes in irritation. The Carson City news might have interested her more than the music if she actually lived here. With a disappointed sigh, she settled down on her bed, hoping her unwinding would continue without interruption.

Another song began and Sabrina's mind relaxed and busied itself trying to remember the artist. The music continued for a few moments longer, but just as the mystery of it's creator was about to be solved, another interuption rattled her peace and quiet. This time in the form of a jangling telephone. Grumbling to herself, she answered it, and then sat quietly in disbelief as the caller rambled in her ear.

"Aw, Jill, what's the matter with you?" Sabrina responded finally, when her friend was finished. Though Jill's announcement wasn't as serious as the reporter's on the radio, this bit of news definitely had her attention.

Jill closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, Bri." she said quickly. "I just- I couldn't help myself."

"So, where'd she go?"

Jill shrugged as best she could with the phone receiver on her shoulder. "She said she was going to the mall to ask around."

She heard Sabrina breathe a few curses under her breath in response. "Well, if we go there now it'll be closed." she muttered finally. "Just stay there, Jill. There's no point in going after her when she could be anywhere."

"Yeah."

Jill's voice sounded so full of despair and worry, that Sabrina's previous frustration with her began to melt away. "Look Jill, don't worry about it." she soothed. "She'll be back when she gets tired, I'm sure. Give her a couple hours to cool off."

"Yeah."

"Just when she does, you gotta lay off of her. Stop trying to get it out of her, you never will. She doesn't want to talk about it."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Sabrina sighed. "Just- look, Jill- she doesn't know what we did. I know you want to help, but if she finds out about-"

"She won't. I'll leave her alone, I promise."

Sabrina smiled at the sincerity in her voice. "Atta girl, Jill." she replied gently. "Don't worry, she'll forget all about it."

"Yeah." Jill agreed half heartedly. She sighed heavily and then, as if she had expelled the entirety of her downcast, guilty mood out in that one breath, perked up and became her usual bubbly and animated self. "So, you get anything there at the house?"

Sabrina laughed at the quick change in demeanor. "The cold shoulder." she quipped. "Other than that, not really." She paused to pop a piece of oatmeal cookie in her mouth. "Oh hey, when you were a kid, where did you hide your diary?"

The random question made Jill's eyebrow quirk in surprise. "When I was a kid? I didn't have a diary." she blurted out. "Who told you I did? Did Kris tell you to ask me? She has no id-"

Sabrina almost choked. "No, I haven't talked to Kris since the last time she was down." she laughed, cutting off Jill's rambling. There was a beat of silence, and Sabrina could almost hear her friend's cheeks redden in embarassment.

"Oh-" Jill replied sheepishly. "Then why do you ask?"

"Well, I ask because-" She chewed and then swallowed her bit of cookie. "- Candace said that Becky was a loner, remember?"

Jill was silent, though Sabrina was sure she had just nodded her head, and so continued.

"Well, I asked how she acted right before her death, and Candace didn't know. Said that she didn't really want to spend time with them, that she went out a lot."

Jill probably nodded again.

"Then while I was talking to her she mentioned twice that she had seen Becky writing in this little notebook. So I asked if she was keeping a diary."

"Is she?" Jill asked finally.

"She wasn't sure." Sabrina answered. "But, if it is and she was really the loner that Candace says she was, and if she was still uncomfortable around them, then its very likely that she hid it somewhere close to her, somewhere in her room."

"Hm." Jill said, after a thoughtful pause. "Well, if I did keep a diary- and I never have- I would probably hide it somewhere up high where my mom and sister couldn't see."

"Well, there's no shelves or anything like that in here." Sabrina sighed. "When I was a kid and didn't want my brothers to find something, I'd bury it in a drawer or hide it in plain sight on top of a shelf. But, if this kid has a diary hidden in here, she's more creative than I was. I've checked everywhere I would have hidden it."

Jill bit her lip, eyes narrowed, deep in thought. "Ok-" she spoke up finally. "I saw this on T.V. a few weeks ago. Is there any false bottoms to any of the drawers maybe? Does she have an air vent in her room?"

Neither of those thoughts had occurred to Sabrin. "Hold on." she said quickly. She dropped the phone on her bed, hurried over to Becky's room, and while Jill hummed quietly to herself to pass the time, spent the next ten minutes carefully inspecting the drawers of the dresser and little paint chipped nightstand. Neither offered anything more than the revelation that the Hanovers had an apparent taste for cheap furniture, and after unscrewing the vent on the ceiling with a quarter and finding nothing but dust and a clogged air filter inside, Sabrina reluctantly decided that the room held no secrets. She wiped her hands on her jeans, and grimacing in disgust, replaced the grate to the air filter. Flecks of dust that had been so long undisturbed rained down on her face as she did, forcing her to turn her head and squint, complicating what should have been a simple task. When she was finished, she wiped her face and hurried back to the phone.

Because it always amused her, she raised the reciever to her ear silently and waited for a moment to find out what Jill was doing to entertain herself. As expected, Jill was singing. Sabrina stifled a giggle and listened. Her friend's voice was pleasant, despite what she thought. No Kris, but still several notches higher than either Kelly or herself. She caught around ten seconds of her friend's half hummed half mumbled rendition of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love" before her snickering finally ended the show.

"Oh, Bri!" Jill cried in embarrassment. "I hate when you do that!"

"Hey, it sounds good!" Sabrina teased, after she had stopped laughing. She hummed a few notes and then laughed again. "Aw, come on! Keep going!"

"I've retired." Jill quipped. "Anyway, did you find anything useful?"

Sabrina cleared her throat. "No, I didn't. Except about fifteen years worth of dust in the air filter." She gave an exaggerated cough. "I mean- I know their room isn't like that, I wonder why they let the kid live with it. And her room is the only room that doesn't have nice furniture in it. Kid's furniture is all old and broken. You'd think they'd have wanted to treat the poor kid more like part of the family."

"That's awful." Jill whispered sadly. "And it doesn't really look too good for his defense, does it?"

"No-" Sabrina admitted. Seeing the girl's room again after spending time in other, more lavishly decorated parts of the house had made it seem even bleaker by contrast. But seeing the state of the air filter, for some reason upset her the most. The Hanover's hospitality wasn't what was being brought into question though. "Still, though." she continued. "Just because they didn't want to spend money on her doesn't mean he killed her. Any other place you can think of?"

Jill chewed her lip pensively, before muttering a negative.

"Too bad Kelly isn't there." Sabrina mused quietly. "She probably had all kinds of tricks."

"Yeah." Jill sighed, a bit of guilt returning to her tone. It didn't last. Struck with a sudden memory, she bolted upright and jumped to her feet. "Oh, Bri!" she cried excitedly, startling Sabrina with her abrupt eagerness. "I remember Kelly telling me she had a foster brother that would steal from her, so she used to cut a hole under her bed frame and hide her money and things there! Check there!"

"Hold on." Sabrina breathed, before again tossing the phone down on the bed. Hope restored, she rushed back across the hall into Becky's room and this time dropped flat to the ground to see under the bed. Aside from a sock and several clumps of dust, there appeared to be nothing lurking underneath. But that was the appeal of a hiding place such as this, wasn't it?

She eased herself down on her side and reached one hand under the bed to run her palms along the smooth wooden frame of the box spring. Almost immediately her hand bumped over an unlikely bulge within the thin fabric and her heart gave an excited leap. Unmindful of how loud she was being, Sabrina jumped up to her knees and with a grunt of effort, tipped the bed over onto its side.

And there it was, exactly like Jill had described. A ragged slit in the fabric on the underside of the box spring, crudely ripped by a child's hand. The bulge she had felt with her hand caught her eyes, small and square shaped, just below one of the wooden slats.

A book? The diary?

Her heart fluttering with excitement, she reached through the slit and quickly fished out its contents. Two bills, a five and a one, fluttered out along with, just as she thought, a purple paperback spiral notebook.

She grabbed it, and hurriedly flipped through its contents. Another dollar bill slid out, but Sabrina dismissively swept it to the floor, focused only on the bubbly little girl's handwriting in it's pages.

The diary. No doubt about it.

She leaned back on her heels, and her eyes scanned the three entries she had opened. Every sentence she read made her heart beat quicker.

Would they ever find anything in James Hanover's favor?

With a start, she remembered that she had abandoned Jill on the line. Shaking her head in disbelief, she slapped the book closed, popped to her feet and hurried back to where the phone lay on the wrinkled sheets of her bed. But now there was no time to see what Jill had been up to.

"Jill, I found it." Sabrina said breathlessly, as soon as the phone was close enough to her lips.

Jill gasped her surprise. "Oh wow!" she rambled off quickly. "It was right where Kelly used to hide her things, just like I said?"

"Sure was." Sabrina answered. "And, well-" The enthusiasm in her voice waned, and Jill immediately picked on her hesitant and controlled tone.

"Well what, Bri?" she asked impatiently.

Sabrina bit her lip and scanned a few pages forward from where she had marked her previous place with her thumb. "Well- it isn't exactly painting a pretty picture of her life here."

"How do you mean?"

"Kid writes that she got yelled at, that she hates it here, that her foster parents ignore her." Sabrina reported, still flipping through the diary's pages. "I mean it could be typical angry teenager stuff, but well- all considering, it isn't going to do anything to help our case."

Jill sighed her defeat. "So now what?"

"So now I'll read through this completely, see if we get anything, and you just sit tight and make sure Kelly gets back. Did you say she was going to mall?"

Jill scoffed derisively. "That's what she said." she replied bitterly. "Like I know what she's really doing"

She sounded so unhappy that Sabrina felt sorry for her. "She probably did." she reassured her quickly. "And if not we can do that in the morning."

"Yeah, ok." Jill sighed miserably.

"And if that doesn't work out-" Sabrina continued. "Then- " She groaned and slumped down on the bed. "-then, I don't know, Jill. We seem to be running out of options. I think I'll swing by the prison tomorrow and have another talk with Hanover."

"Think that'll help?"

"No clue."

Jill laughed. "I don't think any of us have a clue. I think you've summed up our entire investigation." she said brightly.

Her comment, however accurately bleak it was, pulled a genuine laugh from Sabrina. "That sounds about right." she giggled. "Look, if Kelly gets back tonight- when Kelly gets back tonight, we'll see what she has and then go from there, I guess."

Jill nodded her head slowly. "I'll give you a call when she gets in."

"No, no, don't." Sabrina said quickly. "She'll think we're keeping tabs on her and you know how she gets."

"Ok, you're right, you're right." Jill relented. "Call me in the morning before you leave then, ok?"

"Will do. Talk to you tomorrow. Night, Jill."

"G'night."

Sabrina hung up the phone, and with a weary sigh, fell back onto the pillows she'd propped up against the headboard. Now what?, she thought miserably. It had only been three days since they'd arrived in Carson City, so why did it feel like they had been there for weeks?

Was it because they'd found not a single clue in those three days? And was that due to Kelly's strange behavior causing them to get sidetracked?

Sabrina flipped open the diary to the first page. An entry, written in blue ink and marked only Tuesday, stared back at her, detailing in her own hand the girl's first few days in James and Candace Hanover's home.

"_Never done this before. I think journals are stupid, but Rhonda said it would help get me adjusted so here goes _

_Got here Saturday morning and so far it sucks here. I wish I could go back. Mr. Hanover is a jerk. Mrs. Hanover is ok, I guess. She wears too much perfume and she doesn't talk to me hardly. I have my own room and that's cool I guess. Rhonda said to give it time to get used to things so that's what I'm going to do. If it still sucks she gave me her number and said I could call her anytime. I wish I could just stay with her she's a lot cooler. I guess I'll give it a few more days and then write in you again."_

The kid hadn't even got the luxury of a good start, Sabrina thought sadly. And there was Rhonda. The name sounded familiar, but took a few moments of thought to conjure up why. When she did remember, she was surprised she'd forgotten. Rhonda Abrams. The girl's social worker. They'd never met her personally but had read the statement she'd given to the police. It was over a page long, lines and lines of heart wrenching expressions of guilt, grief, and shock. Maybe they'd talk to her again if nothing came up, but it probably wouldn't help. She hadn't been in the house with the girl.

The pages of the diary darkening her mood, Sabrina turned the page and read through a few more entries all with consistent themes.

Mr. Hanover was a jerk. His wife was neglectful. She missed Rhonda.

After ten more minutes of reading, Sabrina sighed, closed the diary, and reverently laid it down on her nightstand. It was upsetting her to read that the last accounts of this poor child were all negative and she couldn't go on. She stretched out on her bed and closed her eyes. She'd finish it though, she had do. No matter how disturbing it was.

Or pointless.

Unless there was some kind of lead hidden in it's pages, a description of a new suspect or plans of running away or anything that turned the pointed finger away from James Hanover, then they had achieved nothing. Not one thing. Jill was right, they had no clues, and if Hanover was innocent then he had no chance.

The thought spurred Sabrina into action. She sat up, snatched the diary off of the nightstand, and flipped it back open.

There had to be something in here. There just had to.

James Hanover's life depended on it.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

At half past eight, five minutes after her legs began to tire from the fast paced hike, Kelly zigzagged her way across the stopped traffic of a busy street and into the sparsely crowded mall parking lot.

Unlike many other places she'd seen since returning, it had changed quite a bit. The marquee was new, the dilapidated one she had expected to find long since replaced. The front doors, once normal push-pull entrances, now updated with sleek new automatic sliding doors that combined with the recent white paint job of the entrance gave the entire building a fresh, modern look.

Kelly looked around in wonder. The mall had to keep with the times, she supposed. She let herself gawk at the renovated walls until a distant chime from beyond the sliding doors reminded her that the mall would be closing in less than half an hour. She'd have to hurry.

The automatic doors whooshed open and Kelly stepped inside.

The outside of the building had changed drastically, but it was nothing compared to the inside. For all the times she had been there, it might have been a new place, it was so different. This time though, she didn't take time to compare differences. There wasn't time for that.

She wandered around the mostly empty first floor until, finally, she spotted a well built young man standing against a distant wall. He looked bored, probably wasn't doing his job, but his blue uniform marked him as a necessary target and so Kelly jogged towards him.

Her guess that the young man had been bored was correct. The moment he spotted her approaching him, his face brightened and he stood up straight and squared his shoulders, hoping to bring to attention his athletic physique.

"Hi, can you help me out?" Kelly called, before slowing to a halt in front of him.

The young security guard grinned and looked up and down her form appreciatively with such eagerness that Kelly unconsciously crossed her arms in front of her chest.

This seemed to disappoint but not discourage him.

"I sure hope I can." he answered smoothly. He adopted a casual leaning pose against the wall and gave her a one sided smile that he probably believed, when combined with his dark eyes and black slicked back hair, made him look very charming. "What do you need?"

His efforts only irritated Kelly. But she needed him, and with only twenty minutes to spare, there wasn't time to find anyone less aggravating.

"Some information." she said quickly. She dug into her pocket and handed the guard a business card, which he didn't look at. "I'm a private detective with the Townsend Agency, and I need to know who to talk to get some possible eyewitnesses to my client and maybe a possible alibi. Where is the manager's office?"

Whether the brash young security guard hadn't heard her say she was a detective or didn't care was unclear. He toyed with her card casually and stared, the same lecherous grin on his face.

Before he could answer, a chime sounded above their heads, a woman's voice informing patrons that closing time was twenty minutes away.

Kelly momentarily looked to the ceiling then returned her gaze to the young man, who had the decency to at least pull his eyes away from her chest while she was looking at him. "And I don't have a whole lot of time, so if you could just point me in the right direction, I can get the leg work taken care of tonight and come back tomorrow." she said shortly.

The young guard seemed amused by her lack of patience. "Well-" he started slowly. "You could talk to the evening manager, I guess. What exactly are you looking for?"

Kelly sighed, suppressing annoyance at his patronizing tone. "My client claims he came here on a certain morning. I'd like to question some employees tomorrow, pass out his picture and see if I can establish an alibi for him."

"Oh-" the guard answered. "You could talk to the evening manager, but if all you're looking for is to seal an alibi, I can help you with that."

His wolfish grin made Kelly doubt his sincerity.

"No, really." he said quickly, noting her doubtful expression. "We have a new security camera system set up here. If your guy was here, he'll be on camera."

Kelly tilted her head in surprise. "A security camera system?" she echoed.

The young man nodded. "Yeah, I'll take you to the control room now if you want to see it. It's right behind that door." He gestured toward a nearby door marked Security, and then stared expectantly back at her.

Kelly was still staring at the door. "Right behind that door?" she repeated uncertainly.

"Yes, ma'am."

Of course it would be, she thought to herself wearily. Probably dark and soundproof as well. But, despite the fact that being alone in a small room with a smarmy security guard was about as appealing as swallowing her gun, it might be the break they were looking for.

Kelly gave her head an uneasy nod, and a moment later the guard had an eager hand on the small of her back and was happily leading her toward the marked door. His touch made her squirm away, but deciding that he was more bark than bite, she pulled ahead and waited impatiently for him to unlock the door.

"You ever see a video surveillance set up?" he asked casually, methodically thumbing through the heavy ring of keys on his belt.

"No." Kelly answered shortly.

His entire face brightened and he straightened and let his key ring fall to his hip. "Oh, it's state of the art. Really new stuff." he said excitedly. "Very expensive and ve-"

"Well, I'd like to see it someday." Kelly cut him off impatiently.

Picking up on her frustration, the guard winked at her, then resumed his key searching. As if he'd known all along, he found it immediatel, furthering Kelly's annoyance, and finally unlocked the door so they could step inside.

When she did, her surprise was genuineand brightened her previous scowl. The room was impressive, glowing a soft red in the dark, white and red lights blinking and flashing, the empty parking lot and the goings on of the remaining shoppers scattered around the store apparent on each of the six monitors positioned on the huge console wall. In front of the wall of screens was an empty chair, clearly meant to be occupied at all times, and the remains of what had probably been the guard's dinner. Aside from the missing guard, this was the most impressive thing she'd ever seen. Kelly nodded her head in approval and the young man pounced on her change of demeanor immediately.

"Here it is." he explained cheerfully. "We have cameras set up around all the entrances, parking lots, and just about anywhere. It'd be real hard to miss anything that went down here." He smiled broadly and puffed his chest out with pride. "And I'm in charge of it all. Nothing gets past me."

Kelly let her eyes wander all over the screens and consoles before raising an eyebrow. "Don't you have to be here to watch it?"

The proud grin melted off of his face. "Oh-well, yeah-" he sputtered. "It's- I mean- I'm usually in here, but it's fifteen minutes to closing time and I wanted some air."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Uh huh-" she replied. "Hard to meet girls in here, isn't it?"

"Yeah it is-" he answered immediately. His eyes widened, realizing what he had revealed. "I mean- I mean no!" he blurted out. This answer was even more ridiculous though, and he panicked. "No- that's not what I mean- I don't try to meet girls when I work- I- uh-"

For the first time all night, Kelly cracked a smile, thoroughly amused by the guards flustered rambling.

"Your secrets safe with me, Deputy Fife." she interrupted. "So, tell me how I'd get to see what went on here a few weeks ago."

His face blushing furiously, the young guard gave up on any hope of a date, and meekly pointed to a small door that Kelly had missed while she was distracted by all the machinery.

"We keep the tapes in there for our records." he explained. "There'd be too many to keep forever though, so unless we need them to persecute shoplifters, after a month or so we throw them out." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, probably warm from the furious blush spreading across his cheeks. "We should have back to the beginning of June. Does that fit what you're looking for?"

Kelly smiled again and nodded. "Yes it does."

"So, uh- there's a television back there hooked up to a cassette player. You can watch whatever tape you need until you find what you're looking for."

Kelly nodded. "And if I do?"

"Then let me know and I'll talk to my manager about using the tape as evidence in court. It's become standard procedure for shoplifters."

As he finished his sentence, the friendly chime sounded once more and a soft spoken woman's voice informed them that the mall would be closing in ten minutes.

Kelly sighed and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "It seems I don't have a whole lot of time. Should I come back tomorrow?"

The guard laughed and waved off her concerns dismissively. "Nah. There's clean up and the night crew comes in. Believe me, this place is always jumping. I'm here until opening at nine, so stay as long as you like. I'll be in and out of here all night."

Kelly smiled. His presence was infinitely more tolerable now his bubble had been burst and the prospect of having him lurking around all night wasn't nearly as nauseating as it would have been ten minutes ago. She shrugged her purse off and set it down on top of the empty chair.

"Thanks very much." she said warmly.

"Not a problem. You know how to work the player?"

"I think I can manage."

"Then can I bring you a drink? Gets kinda stuffy in here."

"I think I can manage."

The guard conceded defeat and with a genuine grin, nodded his head and stepped out of the room. "I'm going outside to help close up. I'll come check up on you in an hour or so."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." Kelly replied, poking her head into the closet door. It was larger than she thought it would have been at first sight. More an office than a closet. But like the young guard had said, there was everything she needed. A metal shelf filled messily with labeled but otherwise identical black rectangles that she guessed to cased up tapes, and a tall wheeled T.V. stand that housed both a large television and a cassette player on its two horizontal surfaces.

Behind her, the young guard cleared his throat, and Kelly turned, somewhat surprised that he was still there. Thinking her earlier thanks hadn't been heard and was still expected, she forced a smile.

"Thank you. I'll try not to be too long."

The guard watched her longingly. "My name is Nate, you know."

Kelly fought the urge to sigh. "Thank you, Nate. I'll try not to be too long."

"I'm an excellent cook. And a fantastic golfer. And not a bad dancer."

"That's wonderful, Nate." she replied tolerantly.

"I make a terrific lasagna." he pressed, as he eased his way out the door. "Everyone says so."

"I'll bet you do." Kelly sighed, turning her attention back to the shelf. Finally the door closed and Kelly rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed in relief. Just as she reached her hand out to examine one of the black cases, the door opened again, startling her with its urgency.

"You don't know what you're missing." Nate sang from the doorway.

Kelly, despite her urge to fling something at him, plastered a phony smile on her face. "I'm not missing anything if you don't go." she sang back sweetly.

Luckily Nate had had his fill of pestering her and with a boyish chuckle the door closed again, leaving Kelly in peace. She stared it for a few moments, hoping that it would stay closed,. When it became clear that Nate had finally left her alone, she relaxed and turned back to the shelf.

The four shelves were filled almost completely with identical black cases. Kelly ran her fingertips along the cases of the top row, letting her fingers bump along their ridges, carefully eyeing the labels on each one. On further inspection they were messy, one label layered on top of another, the entire side of each case covered with sticky residue and remnants of previously peeled off labels before it. The tapes may not be reused, but the cases certainly were. Amazingly though, they were in perfect order, and all it took was a brief scan to locate the tapes she was searching for.

She found them quickly, thanks to the organized system of the shelf, and with two arms, slid them from their spot, and carried them over to the T.V. stand in the corner. There they were. six tapes, each neatly marked June 3rd in black marker, the entire day's events captured within their film.

Kelly sighed and spread the tapes out on the floor. Even though she only needed to go through half, the ones marked Entrance or Exit, it suddenly hit her that this was going to be very long and very tedious work.

And all for nothing.

James Hanover wasn't on these tapes. He'd been busy murdering his foster kid and Kelly had not for a single second even entertained the thought that anything on these tapes would free him. No. This was for Sabrina and Jill's sake. This was to save face. And if it meant an evening locked in a stuffy closet with only Nate the Womanizing Security Guard for company, then so be it.

With a sigh, Kelly popped open the first tape, stared at it for a few seconds, and went to work.

* * *

News bulletin.

Static.

News bulletin.

Static.

Static.

Heaving a sigh of disgust, Jill flicked off the television and flopped back onto her bed. So much for that, she thought glumly. Static or the newsflash on that murder suspect kid's who'd just gotten himself killed after a three hour standoff with police. Neither was anything she wanted to watch.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around. With the absence of the T.V.'s noise, the motel room seemed even more silent than before. More silent and more lonely.

Jill groaned and pushed herself off of the bed to pace the room again.

Why had she run Kelly off like that? She'd upset her, upset Sabrina, and ensured that she spend a restless night alone, worrying and fretting about what her friends were doing.

Kelly was angry for sure. With Sabrina it'd be harder to tell.

Probably though, she'd really messed up.

Restless and lonely, Jill wandered over and sat on Sabrina's bed. It was closest to the phone and the sight of it gave her the urge to talk to one of her friends. She stared at it for a moment before yanking it out of its cradle and, before she could talk herself out of it, pounding out the Hanover's number.

It was late, but Candace Hanover was likely sleeping and Sabrina was by a phone.

The line began to ring and Jill perched herself on the edge of the nightstand to wait. It would calm her just to talk to Sabrina for a moment, she justified to herself. Just to hear her voice for a few minutes, get some reassurance, and then she'd be able to sit and wait for Kelly to get back.

Three rings went by and Jill's anxiety began to peak. Why wasn't she answering?

She let the phone ring twice more before deciding to give up. But just as she was about to set the phone back on the hook, a woman's voice cut through the line.

"Hello?" came the curt response.

Jill's blue eyes widened. That wasn't Sabrina's voice.

"Hello?" Candace Hanover's irritated and sleepy voice snapped again.

Jill tilted her head back and mouthed a silent curse. Why she hadn't predicted this, she had no idea.

"Is anyone there?"

Jill closed her eyes. Great, she thought to herself. Not only had she woken the woman up, but now she was sitting here like a crazy person and not responding.

That was sure to win her points.

"Mrs. Hanover, hi! Jill Munroe" Jill stammered finally, hopping off the nightstand in her anxiety. "Sorry for calling so la-"

"It's a little late to be calling, Ms. Munroe." Candace answered shortly. "Did you find something?"

Jill swallowed, suddenly second guessing her decision. "Um, no ma'am. I just need to talk t-."

"Sabrina is in the shower. Hold for a second and I'll get her." The line rustled and Jill realized that Mrs. Hanover was going to set down the phone.

"Oh no, it wasn't important!" she blurted out. "No, it's fine. It was...something silly, I'll just tell her tomorrow."

There was a beat of silence before Candace Hanover spoke again. Just long enough for Jill to know she had done something foolish.

"If it was silly, why did you call my home and wake me at two in the morning, Ms. Munroe." she spat, disdain more than obvious in her voice. "I'll thank you not to use my phone line for girl talk."

Jill fought the urge to groan. Why had she thought this was a good idea again? "I'm sorry, I didn't realize the time." she rambled. "Could you- could you tell h-"

"I'll tell her you called. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Jill answered back politely.

The line went dead half way through her farewell.

"And the sweetest of dreams to you too." Jill muttered sarcastically into the buzzing reciever. She sighed and dropped it into its cradle before flopping back on her bed. What a stupid idea. Damn Sabrina for not answering. She stared at the ceiling for five minutes more until the jangle of the telephone sent her bolting upright in bed. Eager to speak with either of her friends, she quickly yanked the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she answered breathlessly.

A soft chuckle greeted her.

"Hi, Bri." she muttered.

"Hey, Jill. What's up?"

Jill sat back down on the bed and realized she didn't really have an answer. "Nothing, really." she sighed. "Just wanted to talk to you." She scoffed under her breath. "I got your secretary instead."

Sabrina's chuckle floated out to her again. "I heard. I'll tell you, you do not have a fan in Candace Hanover."

"Oh, you picked up on that too?" Jill snapped sarcastically. "Really making that detective license look good, huh?"

"It's what I do." Sabrina answered back, still giggling. "What'd you say to her? She wasn't too thrilled."

"Nothing!" Jill answered emphatically. "That woman hates me. I think if she could kill me and get away with it she'd do it."

An empty silence followed her words, and for the second time in the span of five minutes, Jill could almost taste her own foot.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" Sabrina asked slowly.

"I- no, no it wasn't." Jill sputtered. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Uh huh. You're really batting a thousand tonight, aren't you?"

Jill groaned in embarrasment, her cheeks flushing a bright red. "Stop, you know that's not what I meant."

But her friend only laughed. "Could be worse. You coulda said it to her husband."

"Oh stop. Now you're just picking on me." Jill grumbled. "You know, whenever I think I've hit rock bottom, it's good that I can always depend on you to toss me a shovel."

Sabrina snickered into the phone. "Got a whole closet full of them." she laughed. "Anyway, is Kelly back?"

Jill sighed miserably, already regretting her call. "No, she isn't. Found anything in the diary?"

"I'm still looking."

"Oh, ok."

"Jill?"

"Yeah?"

"Go to bed."

Jill groaned her protest. "Bri-"

"No, really." Sabrina insisted. Her tone took the cool, intellectual tone it usually did when she was setting straight either herself or Kelly with logic. "Look, you're just working yourself up. There's nothing you can do right now, so just relax, wait for Kelly, and I'll be back first thing in the morning, huh? I'll even bring breakfast."

Jill sighed heavily.

"Go on, Jill. It's gonna be fine. Trust me."

Though Sabrina had no way to see, Jill nodded her head slowly. "Ok, you're right." she relented softly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." Sabrina answered brightly. "Just relax. Go lie down. Kelly's fine. She'll be back soon."

"Yeah."

"Ok, then. Now go. Bed."

Though she was still upset, Sabrina's mockingly stern orders made Jill smile. "Alright. Thanks, Bri. I'll see you in the morning. Night."

"Night Jill. Get some rest."

The line went dead and Jill reluctantly set it back in its cradle. Despite the uselessness of her call, she did feel a little better after talking to Sabrina. Again she turned on the T.V. and flopped on her bed. Even though she wanted to pace, or nervously set herself on some menial task, she wouldn't. She'd sit right here and watch T.V. until either Kelly got back or Sabrina called with something important.

The news station she'd been watching suddenly disintegrated into static.

Jill sighed passively and leaned her head back against the wall. Let the damn static play, she lacked the energy to get up and change the channel.

This would be a rough night, but she'd have to just see it through.

* * *

Kelly rubbed her bleary eyes and took a sip of the coffee Nate had dropped off thirty minutes ago. He'd been by to check on her a few times, once to blabber excitedly about the police standoff that had ended in Jared Wilkinson's death, and twice more just to pass the time. Luckily the most annoying thing he'd done was give her the coffee that she'd burned her tongue on taking her first sip.

A scalded tongue was also the most useful thing she'd picked up in the past four hours. Staring blankly into the bright television screen was wearing out her tired eyes and her back was starting to ache from the uncomfortable chair. And for what?

Kelly took another sip of the lukewarm coffee she never got to taste and then turned her attention back to the screen. She was halfway through the second three hour tape and every feeling in her body was screaming at her to take a break. Her mind was starting to wander, her back hurt, and the ever present drone of static seemed to be getting louder and louder, grating mercilessly at her nerves.

Still, she watched.

The four hours hadn't been totally uneventful. Hanover had, just as she'd heard, made an appearance in the first tape. And luckily Nate hadn't yet brought the coffee, because the sight of him had made her bolt upright in alarm. All a false alarm though. The timestamp on the tape at the time of his arrival was 11:34 A.M., well before he'd gone home and killed the girl, rendering it absolutely useless as evidence. He'd been everywhere he said he'd been, but the guilty had no alibi, Kelly thought darkly.

She yawned and continued watching for another forty five minutes. It seemed pointless, she knew, but she had to be thorough. She owed Sabrina and Jill that much. There had been enough lying and when she told them later that she had watched the security tapes, it would be the truth. Eagerly awaiting the timestamp on the screen to arrive at 2:00 PM and signal the end of both the tape and this torture, Kelly sipped her cold coffee and stared at the screen.

When the timestamp indicated there were only five minutes more, Kelly gratefully stood up and stretched out her sore and achy back and legs. Anxious to be finished, she remained standing and impatiently watched the timestamp tick down its final few minutes. She fidgeted anxiously as she waited. The coffee was finished, the last tape was almost done, and she was more than ready to go back to the room, make peace with Jill, and go to bed.

With two more stubborn minutes to go, she sighed irritably and ran her burned tongue along the inside of her mouth, frowning at the residual taste of the cheap coffee. A piece of gum would alleviate at least one of her many current discomforts, and she shrugged her purse off of her shoulder to hunt for something minty.

Had she done it second sooner, had she turned her eyes off the screen just a moment before, lowered her head to fumble with the purse's clasp, or been forced to bend over to retrieve it from the floor, she would have missed it altogether.

Her eyes widened in shock and a sickening cold washed over her, down her spine, making her heart stop and her stomach lurch. She jerked back as if she'd been splashed in the face with ice water.

"Oh my God." she breathed to herself.

She stood still, paralyzed, until long after the tape had ticked away its final seconds and gone to black with a hollow click.

How had she not seen it before?

No. It couldn't have been. She was tired. Her eyes were playing tricks.

She stood still, hardly daring to breathe for a few seconds longer before starting forward and stumbling into action. She dropped to her knees by the player, her trembling hands fumbled across its surface, and slapped at two wrong buttons before she found the one she needed.

The tape whirred and clicked, rewinding to the last two minutes of its film and Kelly waited, heart hammering in dread, until she could wait no more. She frantically slammed down the play button and scooted back to rewatch.

She'd been a minute too early, but she forced herself to stand and watch. And, just as she feared, as the timestamp indicated 1:58:12, it happened again.

Kelly numbly watched the tape play itself out into black once more before dropping slowly to her knees and turning it off. The coffee taste in her mouth replaced itself with the sour taste of bile, but gum was the farthest thing from her mind now.

It had been unmistakable the first time, and she had seen it twice.

At 1:58 in the afternoon of the day she'd been murdered, mere hours before her death and during the time Hanover was at the bar, Rebecca Saunders had been leaving the mall with a young man she probably hadn't known.

Jared Wilkinson. The man shot dead by police earlier this very night.

He was her murderer.

And James Hanover was innocent.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Sabrina arched her back with a groan of discomfort, stretched out stiff muscles and felt the vertebrae of her spine pop and crack as an audible reminder of how long she'd been hunched over the purple spiral. Her long stretch ended in a tired yawn and she reached up to rub stinging and sore eyes.

This was brutal.

She sighed, took another swipe at her eyes, and turned to the next entry in Rebecca Saunder's diary. It wasn't that the girl's narratives were tedious, her handwriting messy, or the content boring that made this read so difficult.

Far from that, it was the subtle hints of neglect and unhappiness that shrunk the girl's handwriting, chopped her sentences, and dulled the emotion in her writing with each passing entry that was so disturbing. As if the crushing of the girl's spirit was mirrored in it's very pages, compressing smaller and smaller until the entries became less frequent and finally stopped.

Frowning to herself, Sabrina flipped through the remaining few pages and was not surprised to see that the pattern continued to the very end.

The poor kid.

Sabrina shut the book for a moment, marking her place with her index finger, and leaned back against the headboard of her bed. The entries of the diary were heartbreaking, enough to leave a choking sensation in her throat, and the fact that one of the main players in the girl's stories was just downstairs was enough to make her feel sick.

No, this little girl's diary was only more fuel for the fire that burned out a conviction for James Hanover. And it did nothing for her perception of his wife.

Sabrina took a deep breath and carefully opened the little purple notebook to finish its last few pages. Maybe if Jill read it next, she'd give up on trying to win over the hateful woman sleeping downstairs, she though dismally.

Five more minutes ticked by as Sabrina read, oblivious to time, lost in a dead girl's thoughts, reliving what would turn out to be her last few weeks in the world. A mere page from the end, her narrowed eyes flew open and she jumped to her feet in excitement.

This!

This is what she had been looking for!

On her feet now, pacing excitedly, Sabrina's intense brown eyes scanned back and forth through the little girl's writing. As she read, her pacing grew more and more frantic until she neared the end of the ink smudged entry.

The last few sentences made her freeze completely. Her brown eyes flitted back and forth across the pages and then finally darted away from the book to the alarm clock on the nightstand. She snapped the notebook shut, placed it gently next to the clock and then resumed her pacing, her earlier fatigue completely forgotten in light of her discovery. She'd been so wrapped up in reading, the time on the clock surprised her.

It was late. Just past three in the morning. Too late to call Jill and Kelly.

Her find would justify such a late call, but nothing could be done about it now anyway. With an anxious sigh, Sabrina sank down on the bed and rubbed the stiff muscles of her neck. It would have to wait until morning.

Now if only she could do the same.

* * *

He didn't do it.

He was innocent.

He was a free man.

These thoughts swarmed through her head, crashing and spinning with such urgency that Kelly was forced to sit down for fear her legs would give out.

He was innocent.

The machine made a slight whirring noise as the tape ran out, jolting Kelly back into reality. It needed to be turned off, but she couldn't get herself to stand just yet, as if her brain was too busy processing the last few minutes to do anything but.

The tape whirred on unheard.

Hanover had insisted on his innocence, his wife had vehemently denied her husband's involvement in the murder, but never, never for one instant had Kelly believed them. Never had she even granted them the slightest bit of credibility. Because they were horrible, dishonest people, and lying was very much a part of their arsenal. And he couldn't have been innocent. Just couldn't have.

That he was struck her like a slap in the face. She'd so fiercely believed in his guilt that the contrary left her feeling betrayed and confused, hovering between denial and acceptance.

He was innocent.

The whirring noise was getting louder, and not wanting to break the mall's player, Kelly finally forced herself to her feet and bent over to click it off. She removed the tape and with hands shaking so bad she feared she'd break it, carefully returned it to its case.

James Hanover was an innocent man and she'd just saved him.

Kelly had to sit again, the tape clutched tightly in her white fingertips. She'd rescued him. Rescued the most horrible man she'd ever known, the man that terrified her as a child and featured prominently in her nightmares even ten years later.

She'd proven him innocent. Not Sabrina, not Jill, but her. Of course it was her. Had to be her.

The idea was having trouble taking, made her want to scream, and Kelly took several deep breaths to steady herself as a wave of something similar to claustrophobic anxiety tightened her chest and throat. When the initial shock had subsided, a slight rattling noise caught her attention and she looked down to discover her shaking hands were rattling the tape in it's plastic case. Again afraid she'd break it, she set it down on the floor and pushed it away with her foot to get it out of her sight.

And then, as the tape slid across the smooth floor under her chair, somewhere in her frazzled mind, shouting over the chaos the past few minutes had caused, a thought occurred to her. A thought initially revolting, yet surprising that it hadn't come immediately.

The tape would prove James Hanover was innocent.

The tape.

Not Kelly Garrett, but this tape sitting next to her foot.

And if it was gone?

Suddenly disgusted, she shoved herself out of the chair and hurried across the room, desperately needing to be away from the tape and the horrible, devious ideas it was causing.

Still, her eyes found it, actively sought it out without her permission, the appalling thoughts in her head pushing forward, weighing themselves out without her approval.

Kelly took a shaky breath and nervously bit her lower lip. If the tape was gone, it would be like nothing happened, wouldn't it? It would be like she missed it. Like she'd never thought of checking the security cameras. Like she'd given up after seeing Hanover on the first tape.

But she had, her conscious screamed at her. Seen her plain as day. Unmistakable even in the jerky, black and white security camera film. Laughing as she walked, and looking up admirably into the face of the young man who had taken her life hours later. How had the police not noticed the similiarities between Becky's murder and the murder of the woman in the ditch? Had that really been overlooked in favor of a convienent suspect? If they'd realized, the police would have been looking for him so much earlier. She wouldn't have to be here in Nevada, wouldn't have had to see him, be back in this city, back in that house, hear his voice, feel his touch.

Kelly shut her eyes tight, as if this would make the situation disappear. But, here was her chance, a nagging little voice persisted. Her chance to put away the man who'd hurt her as a child, stolen what little innocence she'd had before she arrived, set her on a path to juvenile delinquency. Here was her chance to get even. He'd never done a single day in jail as punishment, had gotten away scott free after all the things he'd done to her and whatever other children had passed through his hands afterwards.

Would it be right to put a man like that back on the streets? Was it the will of God Himself that James Hanover live out the rest of his days in prison? He was in jail already. The girl's murderer was dead. Had his wife not hired them, that's certainly what would have happened, wouldn't it? If she hadn't recognized Rebecca in the video, then that would be the end result too. She'd missed her once, hadn't she? The kid had walked through the entrance doors without catching her attention, would it be so unreasonable to have missed her on the way out as well?

But she hadn't missed her.

Kelly anxiously dropped her head in her hands. Who was she to decide a man's fate? She couldn't get rid of the tape. It would be dishonest, wrong, illegal, against everything engrained in her during her Catholic upbringing, against everything she swore to uphold upon graduating from the police academy. To keep that tape would mean a lifetime in prison for an innocent man, a lifetime of loneliness and pain for his wife. To keep that tape would make her a criminal, a monster, something inhuman to be loathed and despised.

Just like James Hanover.

Kelly stood up, and though she didn't realize it, began pacing back and forth between the narrow walls of the office. Just because James Hanover hadn't murdered that girl didn't make him an innocent man completely free of sin and wrong doing. To call a man like James Hanover innocent would be laughably inaccurate. He may not have been a murderer, but he was a monster. A power hungry, abusive, controlling, perverted monster. A monster that had gone ten years unpunished for his crimes.

And his wife was no better. His wife had watched him in action, had turned her back on and even, in her own way, approved of and participated in his abuse. She'd certainly never tried to stop him, either physically or by reporting him to the authorities. She'd never helped, never tried to comfort, never tried to protect her. Not once. Not one time. Instead, she'd berated her foster daughter, unhinged her sense of self worth and shattered her esteem with cruel and malicious insults. It'd be incredibly naïve to believe that she'd be unjustly punishing her by condemning her husband to prison. Candace Hanover wasn't the one to dole out beatings, but it didn't matter. She'd caused just as much damage and the only difference between her and her husband was that Candace Hanover's bruises were invisible.

Kelly's resolve hardened. Old feelings were stirring up inside her chest, combining in a confusing but powerful mixture of emotion. Fear, pain, loneliness, uncertainty, sadness. All staples of her time in Nevada. The reasons it made her feel sick to think about it.

No. She couldn't leave the tape here. They shouldn't be allowed to live out their days happy and carefree. She owed herself that much, didn't she? Was this God's way of granting justice? Not only for her, but for all the children they'd hurt. For little Becky Saunders.

Men's voice floated to her from outside the security room door, and Kelly jumped to her feet in alarm as if she'd been caught hovering over a dead body.

Nate was coming back. She'd have to make a decision right now.

Kelly stood frozen in her spot, the correct path completely unfathomable to her, both options equally righteous, equally justifiable, equally appalling.

Later. She'd decide later.

Either way, whether she took the tape to the police or destroyed it, it would have to leave this room.

And that's where she'd start.

But first, just as she'd done as a young delinquent , she had to cover her tracks. Instincts taking the reins, Kelly snatched the case off of the floor, pried it open, and hurried to the shelf with it. Her green eyes frantically scanned the rows upon rows of black plastic cases. They were all the same. The tapes, the cases. The only difference were the people on the film and the labels on the side.

She yanked an older case out at random, popped it open, and hurriedly ran it back to the cassette player. A youth filled with lying and crime had taught her to think things through, not be sloppy with her cover ups no matter what the circumstance. And when being caught in a lie meant being hurt or punished, lessons were quickly and permanently learned. Bouncing from the sheer adrenaline coursing through her system, Kelly stuffed the tape into the player and anxiously fast forwarded through the first few minutes. After a moment she let a frustrated curse slip through her mouth.

Rain.

Rain was visible on film just beyond the entrance doors.

It wasn't raining on the third of June and that fact rendered this tape unusable.

Stifling a scream of impatience, Kelly rewound it back to its start, pulled it out of the machine, replaced it on the shelf, and repeated her test with its neighbor.

Whether Nate was in the middle of a joke or still talking excitedly about the police stand off with whoever he was talking to outside, Kelly didn't care. As long as his muffled voice was constant and stayed in one place, she was safe.

She turned her eyes back to the screen and this time, satisfied with the consistent weather in the first five fast forwarded minutes, rewound it and yanked it out of the player. One final step remained, and she hurriedly dragged over the open case she'd discarded to the floor and switched the harmless tape with the incriminating one from the case wedged firmly in the crook of her arm.

Outside, she could hear Nate more clearly now, talking to someone through the open door of the security room, only a flimsy door separating him from what she was doing.

Breathing quickened, Kelly quickly inspected her handiwork. Two tapes, two cases. Identical in their open containers. No one would know the difference. No one but her.

Nate's boyish laughing outside momentarily distracted her, but she quickly turned back to her task. He would be coming in soon. She had to hurry.

With one eye and both ears focused on the door, Kelly quickly shoved the incriminating tape, now housed in a different case, as deep inside her purse as she could get it without ripping out the bottom, then, just as Nate finished his conversation and his footsteps began to approach her door, slid the other tape back in its place on the shelf.

Kelly leaned back and carefully surveyed what she'd done. There was a missing case, but it wouldn't be noticed, there were far too many tapes. The shelves looked just as they had when she'd entered the room hours ago. If questions were asked, if she was suspected, then Nate knew the date of the tape she'd been looking for. And the case in question would be there where it'd always been. Right where'd she'd left it. And the footage would look the same. The same entrances, the same weather outside, the same stream of human traffic going in and out of the building.

The only difference was the tape was lacking in the crucial, lifesaving evidence her and her friends had been seeking.

That all important evidence was wound in the film of the tape in her purse, and no one would suspect they'd been switched.

"You still in here?"

Kelly didn't turn at the sound of Nate's voice. "Yeah. Just finishing up." she called, summoning an easy tone.

Nate muttered something, but Kelly's attention was focused solely on the large shelf in front of her. The shelf looked fine, she decided. The television and cassette player were off and just as she'd found them. The incriminating tape was safely hidden in her purse and its place on the shelf filled with an identical imposter. Her eyes darted to the spot where she'd taken the imposter from, the absence of a tape glaringly obvious to her, though it probably wouldn't be missed. True to her nature, the imposter hadn't been a completely random choice. It was one of the oldest tapes. One that would get replaced very soon and it would probably be long taped over or thrown out by the time anyone realized what she'd done. She'd thoroughly covered her tracks.

Kelly Garrett had always been a thorough criminal.

Behind her the door opened, revealing Nate's smiling, if a bit tired looking face.

"Hey, you find what you need?" he asked.

Though her heart was racing and a sheen of cold sweat covered her face, Kelly forced a light hearted smile and turned to face him. "No, but thanks anyway. At least I can cross this off my list."

Nate nodded his head in thoughtful agreement, though Kelly could tell he hadn't paid attention to her answer. His dark eyes periodically glanced downwards and, curious, Kelly followed his gaze to realize he'd come in with a long handled broom.

"You need me to get out of here so you can clean up?" she guessed.

He shook his head. "Oh no." he said slowly. "This is for you."

"For me? You want me to clean up?"

"No, it's to sweep you off your feet."

Kelly could only stare.

After a few moments of silence, Nate's serious face broke out into a laughing grin. "Is it working?" he asked innocently.

Kelly laughed, amazed that she was even able to, and good naturedly reached out to pat his cheek. "No. But don't let that discourage from future prospects." she said. "And by the way, this side of you is much more likeable than whatever side I saw when we first met."

"Well, I liked every side of you when we met." Nate replied with an easy grin, casually leaning against his broom.

Kelly gave him a tolerant half smile. "You didn't see every side of me."

"Not yet."

"Not ever." Kelly tossed back. She smiled and, her purse clutched tightly under her arm, began to back out the door. "Trust me, there's a lot you wouldn't like."

He nodded and followed her out with his eyes, smiling gently, his advances more of a playful banter now than hopeful attempts to win her over. "Take it easy, Kelly. You need anything else feel free to come find me." He pointed to his name tag. "Nate, remember?" he reminded her, though his name tag read his surname.

"I'll remember, thanks." Kelly replied with a soft laugh. "Good night."

She exited the little room and found herself back in a much changed mall, completely empty, metal grates pulled down over all the shops, the night crew off doing their jobs out of her line of sight. Only a shiny, dimly lit, tiled hallway separated herself from the parking lot and figuring she could let herself out unaided, she hurried towards the double doors, her shoes clicking what seemed to be overly loudly in the empty corridor.

As she walked, her mind raced wildly. Nate had been a welcome distraction from her troubles, but now that she was alone, the disturbing and troubling moral dilemma she had put herself in came bubbling to the surface. She clenched her teeth, picked up speed and clutched the purse closer to her body.

She could feel the corner of the tape digging into her ribs, prodding her, reminding her of the choice she had to make.

Her car was a welcome sight, an island of civilization in a sea of empty parking lot, and she hurried towards it and climbed inside. The tape poked its way out of her purse from its place on the passenger seat, and in a fit of panic that surprised her, she frantically stuffed it inside and hurled the entire bag into the back.

Later. She'd deal with it later. Not now. Now, she had to think.

Maybe it would be ok, she told herself. Maybe Sabrina or Jill would find some more evidence and her tape would be unecessary. Maybe the police would realize. Maybe someone else, anyone else would take the burden away from her, prevent her from making the decision she'd ultimately have to make.

She tried to force it from her mind, but that proved impossible. She was too worked up, too nauseous, too tense.

Later. She'd handle it later.

Chest fluttering, Kelly started her car and headed back to the hotel.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

_When Monday morning's light finally shone through Kelly's bedroom window, she'd been awake for almost an hour. _

_She squinted against the pale sunlight and climbed out of bed. __After a particularly brutal beating the previous Wednesday night, the Hanover's had kept her home from school for fear that her bruises would inspire some unwanted questioning. Kelly hadn't voiced a complaint against the decision. Staying home had been a gift to her sore, aching body. But, there was also another unexpected perk. An idea had sparked in her head Thursday morning as she stood in the kitchen with her school bag, thanks to some overheard grumbling by her foster mother. __Mrs. Hanover had unmistakably mentioned the police as she brushed by her._

_And that was new to Kelly. _

_So, that was why she was being kept home. Could this be a way out? If there was only the slightest chance, the idea beared some exploring. That the Hanovers might be arrested never occurred to the girl, only that if the police were contacted, she would be taken out of their home. It was worth a shot._

_Kelly gingerly fingered her sore jaw. __She felt and looked much better than she had Thursday morning, but the Hanover's attempt at discretion had been in vain. Her foster father had slapped her last night. Slapped her hard enough that she fell down and the side of her face felt like it was on fire. But for the first time, being hit made Kelly smile inwardly. __She had purposely aggravated him and it hadn't taken long for her reward. _

_Kelly eagerly grabbed her little mirror and looked at her face. Just as she hoped, there was the beginnings of a bruise on her right cheekbone._

_Perfect._

_She scurried to her closet, dressed quickly, and hurried down the stairs. She'd been told to stay home today, but she'd get to school early. Go to all her classes. Raise her hand. Anything to draw attention to the bruises on her face. Then the police would come._

_And they could help her, couldn't they? They were police. They had to help._

_That thought firmly in place, Kelly hurried into the kitchen to grab something to eat. Having been denied dinner as punishment, she was eager for breakfast and paid no attention to the approaching footsteps as she headed for the fridge. __Hanover let her open it and dig around inside for a moment before clearing his throat and making his presence known. Kelly jerked in surprise, yanked herself upright and slammed the fridge door closed._

_"Sir- I-" she squeaked._

_"I thought I told you to stay home today." Hanover asked calmly, blocking the exit with his large body._

_Kelly nervously wrung her hands in front of her and found an interesting spot on the floor to look it. "Yes sir- I just- I have a test today and I have to get a good grade or I'll fail."_

_"In what?"_

_"Algebra." Kelly lied instinctively._

_Her life had trained her well and she was a good liar, unflinching and solemn. Though Hanover did his best to make her think otherwise, he knew how intelligent little Kelly Garrett was. He had gone to great lengths to teach her how to behave and last night she had displayed blatant disregard for his rules. It'd been hard to believe at first, but the little brat was more cunning than he had given her credit for. She had wanted him to hit her and now here she was in the kitchen, readying to sneak off to school with her bruised face as a token of victory. He'd put a stop to that. She was smart yes, but she was still an impressionable child. An impressionable child that was absolutely terrified of him._

_"__Algebra?" Hanover echoed, raising an eyebrow. "You're having trouble with algebra?" __His tone was condescending and Kelly's face flushed an embarrassed shade of red before shrugging her little shoulders. Hanover smiled at her submission._

_"Are there a lot of people in your math class?" he continued, with exaggerated interest._

_Kelly looked up, slightly caught off guard by his question. "Um- about twenty, sir."_

_"Twenty? That's a lot."_

_"Yes, sir."_

_Hanover nodded and reached his big hand out to cup her chin. The gesture, though not rough, was decidedly more menacing than affectionate. __"And what about your face, Kelly?" he asked quietly. "You wouldn't be going to school to show everyone your face, would you?"_

_Kelly's face paled. "N-No sir-" she choked weakly._

_Hanover stared. Her eyes had just betrayed her intentions and it was time to put a stop to this. "Because if you were, I would find out. I would, Kelly." he threatened. "There's a process, you know. No one just takes us away because you complain. They ask questions first. Poke around. It's a whole investigation and that takes time." He smiled a joyless smile at her and waited until he could see her chest visibly rising and falling with the rapid, shallow breathing of fear. __"Nothing happens here that you don't bring on yourself. So, you wouldn't want to put us through that, would you Kelly? That would be very unpleasant, wouldn't it?"_

_Kelly nodded nervously and Hanover, sensing her growing anxiety, dug his fingers harder into her skin, bordering on the threshold of pain. Kelly squirmed in his grip and let out a soft whimper._

_"And if you do tell anybody, I'll kill you. Because that's just more trouble than you're worth." he whispered. "I'll kill you and tell them you ran away and no one will care, Kelly. Because -" he squeezed her harder. "- no one gives a shit. Nobody. And all it's going to take is one little question."_

_He shoved her face away, sending the girl reeling backwards a few steps. __Kelly's reached up to rub feeling into her sore jaw and watched her guardian with wide, fearful eyes._

_"So, go on to school. And when someone asks about your face, you better think of something to say." Hanover threatened, crossing his arms over his broad chest. "Because if I get one phone call, just one phone call, that's it, Kelly-"_

_The threat hung heavily in the air for a few tense moments before Kelly nodded her head in acknowledgement and slunk by him. Hanover didn't move out of her way, forcing her to squeeze by his large frame to escape._

_The second she was by him, she scooped up her school bag and all but ran out the front door. Outside, her pace picked up, as if she feared he would give chase and make good on all the frightening promises he had just threatened her with. She was halfway down the block before she felt safe enough to slow down. Her long legs shortened their stride, her school bag ceased to bounce annoyingly against her back. Still panting and tingling with adrenaline, Kelly slowed to a stop and turned back towards sight of her dreaded house._

_He would kill her without a second thought. _

_She unconsciously rubbed her jaw again, abandoning her previous plan. What now? She couldn't go to school. But she couldn't go home either. _

_School would give her lunch though and this was enough to make her stop and think._

_She wasn't allowed to tell anybody about what went on, but that couldn't stop her from making something else up. Kids got hurt all the time, didn't they? Kelly chewed her thumbnail anxiously. Could she pass off her face as a sports injury?_

_No._

_The logical side of her quickly answered that question. Ridiculous, she answered herself. Not unless she got hit by five or six footballs all in the face._

_School was out then. She'd make sure to be extra good so she could eat dinner tonight. __With a heavy sigh, Kelly turned and trudged toward the park. She could hide there until school was out, she decided glumly._

_"Where you goin, new girl?"_

_Kelly turned to see a group of girls walking on the opposite side of the street from her. She stopped and let them get a bit closer, revealing three girls whose faces she knew from school._

_"What are ya'll doin?" another one of the girls shouted out to her in an exaggerated Texas drawl. Her two companions snickered at her mocking impersonation of Kelly's slight accent and the three girls drew closer._

_Kelly groaned to herself. Now? Really?_

_She knew them all from class. They were a clique, snobby and unfriendly, and had snickered and made rude comments during her forced introduction speech as a new student to their class. The fact that she was from Texas and her parents had a different last name from her had just been more fuel for the flame. __Poor Kelly couldn't possibly know that the girls were only jealous and threatened by her blossoming good looks and the way the boys stole secret glances at her. For all she knew, all her classmates hated her just like everyone else seemed to._

_These girls were no exception._

_"What happened to your face?" the red head asked, her tone lacking concern. "Were ya'll at a rodeo?"_

_Her joke had her friends immediately doubled over in laughter. Kelly rolled her eyes. She had never even seen a real horse. But stereotypes were stereotypes. The girls closed in and __Kelly braced herself for a confrontation. They weren't going to leave her alone until they had their fun, and she would make damn sure they had to work for it._

_"Ohh, are you gonna fight us?" the same girl teased in her slurred drawl. She turned to her friends. "I think Kelly wants to fight us!"_

_"I don't want to fight." Kelly answered back wearily._

_Though Kelly had spoken with no trace of an accent, the three girls shared a look and burst into a fit of giggles._

_"I don't want to fight!" one of them echoed back._

_Kelly's blood boiled. Little did they know, she'd be on them in an instant if it weren't for the injuries she might receive. If only for the chance at lunch, she needed to get back to school tomorrow and more bruises would keep her away. She had enough to try to explain away as it was, any more would make it impossible. Face flushed in embarrassment and anger, Kelly turned on her heels and stormed away._

_"I don't want to fight!" one of the girls shouted behind her through her giggles._

_Kelly gritted her teeth and balled her hands into fists. If only they knew how much she did. If there was a way she could fight and not get hurt then she would be doing anything but walking away._

_And then a lunatic idea flashed through her head._

_So what if she got hurt?_

_Maybe getting hurt would have its advantages…_

_Kelly smiled and turned around to face her tormentors. They were mostly talk. They wouldn't fight unless she threw the first punch. And she'd be more than happy to. The red head would get it first. Right in her mouth._

_As she walked away from the scuffle she started, she couldn't help but to be proud of herself. The girls would rally against her, possibly tell the principal, and have her suspended. But none of that mattered because now she had an excuse for her battered looking face and the wrath of the principal was nothing compared to the wrath of James Hanover._

_A happy grin spread over her cracked, bloodied lip. One of them had gotten a lucky shot at her. It hurt, but the pain was well worth it._

_She may have just saved her own life._

* * *

Kelly shuddered at the awful memory, one of many just like it, and felt the bitter taste of Nate's coffee surge up from her stomach to burn the back of her throat.

She couldn't turn it in, couldn't save his life, cover for him. Not again. Not after lying for him so many, many times, pretending everything was ok because thats what he'd told her to do.

Turning in that tape would be going back to being that scared little girl, putting her abusive foster father's demands before her own safety, lying to ward off prying teachers, friends, and neighbors. She'd done that enough. Too many times. Not again.

No.

He deserved this.

Hell, she deserved this.

Maybe if she hadn't been such a weak, helpless little girl, then maybe he could have been stopped. Maybe she didn't have to go through several more months of his torment, maybe all the other children that lived under his roof would have been spared the violence, the abuse, the horrible memories.

Maybe Rebecca Saunders would still be alive.

The thought and everything it implied nearly made Kelly swerve off the road. She'd been the first. She could have stopped it. She could have saved Rebecca's life years before the girl had even been born.

The anxiety fluttering in Kelly's chest instantly exploded into a bout of heart racing panic that made her want to scream, want to beat her fists into the steering wheel, smash everything in sight until the horrible wave of hysteria had subsided. To keep from smashing through the guardrails and into a tree, Kelly ungracefully jerked the car off of the road and into an empty parking lot, flinging the vehicle into park before the brake pedal was even down. Without caring if anyone was around, she buried her face in shaking hands and took deep, gasping breaths, desperately willing her heartrate to slow and the churning nausea in her stomach to settle.

She felt sick. Sicker than she'd ever felt in her life. The kind of sickness that would never go away.

If only she'd told. If only she'd gotten help.

He walked the streets a free man for over ten years, free to take on more innocent foster kids, free to ruin their lives. Simply because she'd been too scared to make him stop.

Could she really do it again then? Could she really save his life one more time by turning in that tape?

Kelly swallowed and, slightly calmer, sat back in her seat and took a few deep breaths.

She had to destroy it. She owed that to Rebecca, a belated gift of justice, too late to save her but not too late to settle the score.

That would make it even, make him pay for everything he'd done, for every bruise he'd put on them, every night they'd laid in bed, shaking in terror, waiting for him to come back. This would make it right.

Kelly sighed and felt the anger drain away.

But, then how could it feel so wrong?

Her hysteria calmed, logic invaded her thoughts once more, morality seeped in where anarchy had briefly taken over and the confliction made Kelly want to scream.

Later. She'd think about it later.

Swallowing away the bitter taste of bile, Kelly shifted back into drive and slowly crept out of the abandoned parking lot.

It had been nearing four in the morning when she left the mall and just past four thirty by the time she slipped her key into the lock of the hotel room door. As quietly as possibly, Kelly unlocked and opened the door. It creaked, what seemed to her loud enough to wake the dead, and she winced and immediately flitted her eyes to the bed where she knew Jill would be sleeping.

Apparently loud enough to wake the dead wasn't loud enough to wake Jill.

Her blonde friend slept on, still in the clothes she'd been in all day, propped up with her neck at an awkward angle, the sheets of her bed still tucked neatly in their corners.

Kelly felt a pang of guilt rip through her heart. Jill had fallen asleep waiting up for her.

Suppressing a groan, Kelly silently shut the door, made her way to her bed, and lowered her things on the floor beside it. But, that wasn't good enough. The tape. The tape couldn't be seen.

Still keeping an eye on the sleeping Jill, Kelly dragged her suitcase out from under the bed, yanked the tape from her purse and, after wrapping it securely in a t-shirt, shoved it to the bottom of the suitcase. Then, as if merely handling it was burning her skin, she hurriedly closed the suitcase and pushed it back under the bed as quickly as she could.

She watched it for a few minutes. It was buried in her suitcase. Out of sight. Definitely not out of mind. Even though she couldn't see in through the suitcase, through the shirt and all her clothes, she knew it was there, taunting her, reminding her. And soon she'd have to make a choice.

A slight rustling from Jill's bed ripped her attention away from the tape and, fearful that Jill had seen her, she whirled around with a gasp of fright.

But Jill was still sleeping.

Kelly frowned at the sight. She looked cold and uncomfortable.

With a sigh, Kelly stood up, wiped her sweaty hands on her jeans, and knelt down by Jill's side. She'd done enough damage to her and Sabrina's friendship. The least she could do was be considerate enough to wake her up so she could sleep comfortably.

"Jill?" Kelly whispered, though she knew it would take more than that. "Jill, wake up."

As expected, Jill slept on.

Kelly sighed and gently shook her shoulder. "Jill." she whispered, a little louder. "Jill, c'mon, get up." When that didn't work either, she gave her a hard shove.

"Hmm?" Jill hummed sleepily. Her eyes were still closed, so Kelly shoved her again.

"Go away." Jill whined, lightly swatting at her arm.

"Jill, it's me. It's Kelly."

"Oh, ok." Jill mumbled. "Go away, Kelly."

"Jill, I need to talk to you. Wake up."

Jill's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, and she reached down for a blanket to pull over her head. She was laying on it, though and so finally opened her eyes.

"Please, Jill." Kelly pleaded wearily. "C'mon."

"Kelly?" Jill blurted out, much louder than expected. As if the volume of her voice startled her, she jerked to a sitting position and looked around the room in confusion. "Wait? Kelly? What time is it?"

"Shh!" Kelly hushed her. "These walls are made out of paper. Lower your voice. And it's about four thirty."

Jill's sleepy face processed this for a moment before she turned to her friend with blue eyes that were now alert. "Four thirty? Did you just get in?"

Kelly nodded. "Yeah, sorry for waking you. I didn't want you sleeping in your clothes all night."

"Oh, so you came to save me for the last two hours. Angel of mercy." Jill shot back. She scoffed and then rubbed her eyes with the bend of her wrist. "Kelly, where've you been all night."

Kelly hung her head, well aware how much she deserved some sarcasm. "I'm sorry. I was out looking up some things."

Jill rolled her eyes and with a grimace of discomfort, carefully stretched out her cramped neck. "Were you at the mall?"

"Yeah." Kelly answered. "I checked out the security tapes to see if I could get anything."

Jill yawned. "And-?"

Kelly's eyes swiveled up to her friend's face. Could she tell her? Could she tell anybody? If Jill knew the truth about Hanover, maybe she'd be on her side. Maybe Sabrina would be too. Maybe they'd help her, relieve her of this moral burden, guide her to the correct decision.

"Nothing." Kelly answered in a hollow voice. She hadn't been aware she'd made a decision, but apparently she had. No. They couldn't know. No one could know. "A whole lot of nothing."

Jill groaned and pushed herself out of bed. "Figures." she said shortly. She rummaged through her open suitcase, pulled out some night clothes, and shut herself inside the restroom. Kelly stayed crouched beside her empty bed and listened to her friend bustle around the tiny room, heard her splashing around as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Finally, after ten minutes, the bathroom door opened again, spilling its garishly bright light into the rest of the hotel room and illuminating Kelly's form, still crouched uncertainly beside the bed.

"You gonna sit there all night?" Jill asked, toweling off her face.

Kelly pushed herself up and sat herself against the headboard of her bed. "No, I- I'm sorry I came back so late. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Well, you did." Jill snapped back. "Sabrina too."

Kelly heaved a sigh and tiredly rubbed her still sore eyes. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"There's a surprise."

"Look, about what you saw today-" Kelly continued, despite Jill's persistent cold demeanor. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you and Sabrina where I was going."

"And the cashier?" Jill shot back. "You knew her, didn't you."

Kelly's jaw clenched in anger, though she knew it was unfounded. Jill was right. They'd both seen and lying was probably insulting them. Still, though, the lie had to persist. "No, Jill." she answered, with a dismissive shake of her head. "I really didn't." She paused, hunting for more words, but the effort was futile and would only serve to make her story even more ridiculous than it already was.

Jill heaved a frustrated sigh as she climbed into her bed. "You're lying." she said calmly, settling herself under the covers. "You've lived here, I don't know why you won't admit it."

"What?" Kelly blurted out in irritated bewilderment. "Jill- "

"Goodnight." came Jill's curt reply in the darkness.

She rolled over in her bed, giving Kelly her back and went silent.

Kelly remained kneeling by her bed, angry and hurt, though knowing she'd deserved every bit of her friend's hostility. With a defeated sigh, she rose from her crouch and quietly climbed into bed, without bothering to change clothes. She had the fleeting idea of again asking forgiveness, but Jill was rightly furious with her and wouldn't respond to any additional attempts at conversation. And her emotions, already rampant by tonight's shock, weren't in a state where she could handle being ignored. So, without another word, she closed her eyes, drew herself in as much as she could and, with nothing else to distract her, became a helpless victim of the onslaught of horrible memories and impossible decisions that would plague her the rest of the night.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 19

_"Kelly, is that you?" a sharp irritated voice called out from the kitchen._

_Kelly sighed softly from the front door entryway, one hand still on the doorknob. So much for slipping in unnoticed and hiding upstairs.__"Yes, ma'am." she called._

_Her foster mother's heels clicked over the linoleum and within seconds, she was peeking around the corner. "Why are you home so late? I needed your help." she harped._

_"I was helping my teacher." Kelly lied. In actuality she'd recieved a detention for missing homework, and though Kelly rarely did anything in school, she never missed a detention. Any moment not spent at home was a precious gift._

_Mrs. Hanover rolled her eyes in disdain, a gesture Kelly saw often and was accustomed to. Anything she said, no matter how honorable, would have gotten the same reaction "Well, get in here and help serve dinner."_

_"Yes, ma'am." Kelly whispered. To her foster mother's frustration, instead of immediately heading into the kitchen, the girl then turned around and hurried toward the stairs._

_"Where are you going?"_

_The annoyed shout stopped Kelly dead in her tracks. She turned around, a look of confusion on her little face, and pointed helplessly towards her room. __"I- I'm going to put away my-"_

_"No! I don't have time to wait for you!" Mrs. Hanover sighed in exasperation. "Put it down and get over here!"_

_Without another word, Kelly did as she was told. Her school bag fell heavily to the floor and her jacket quickly heaped over it. Now unburdened, she hurried into the kitchen, flinching at the impatient shove her foster mother gave her for her trouble._

_Dinner was blessedly uneventful that night and for that Kelly was grateful. Every night this week, for reasons ranging from slurping at the table to speaking out of turn, she'd been yelled at or slapped and her nerves desperately craved a quiet evening. __Kelly hungrily shoveled a forkful of hot meatloaf into her mouth, hardly bothering to chew before swallowing and replacing it with another. Receiving dinner was the most promising start to an evening she'd had since Tuesday. Since arriving at the Hanover's home, meals had been less and less consistent as her relationship with the couple grew more and more ugly. Between this and constant anxiety, her appetite diminished to the point that nearly fifteen pounds had been shed from her already thin, lanky frame. _

_With her focus entirely on her dinner, Kelly finished quickly and immediately rushed her dishes to the sink before sneaking away to her room until Mrs. Hanover shouted for her to tend to the __sink full of dishes awaiting her care. She worked quickly as usual, her nimble little fingers cleaning one dish after another and setting them to dry on the counter. The faster she finished, the faster she could go back to her room and so focused was she on her task, that everything around her was tuned out in favor of speeding up the process. __Unfortunately for her, one of the noises both her focus and her splashing tuned out was the increasingly irritated voice of James Hanover. Three times he'd shouted for a beer and three times Kelly hadn't heard. Though there was no trace of anger in his first request, by the third he was furious._

_"Kelly!"_

_The furious shout nearly made Kelly jump out of her skin. She immediately dropped her dishcloth on the counter and whirled around. __Her heart jumped into her throat as the sight of Hanover's intimidating presence framed in the kitchen entry, jaw clenched in anger, hands on his hips, staring back at her in anger._

_"Didn't you hear me calling you!" he snarled. "What the hell are you doing?"_

_Kelly swallowed, knowing he wanted an answer she didn't yet have prepared. She stalled for a moment, eyes unconciously fixing on her shoes, now wet from her splashing. The night had been going so well and her heart sank, knowing what would happen next. Her__eyes snapped back to him just in time to see him lose his patience and begin storming over to her. The sudden movement startled her and she let out a little gasp of fear. Her insides flooded with terror, but her fate was already sealed so instead of succumbing to the powerful urge to run away, she braced herself. She would be struck, but she wasn't stupid enough to make things worse by trying to. __While Kelly watched with wide, panicked eyes, Hanover charged towards the kitchen like an angry bull, his loud stomps making vases and lamps shake audibly in his wake._

_But he wasn't going to get to her. _

_Kelly saw it a second before it happened. Her backpack and jacket were still on the floor where she left them before dinner and Hanover was staring at her, not his feet. __Before she could even think about deciding whether or not to warn him, the first of his big feet knocked into her school bag. And, exactly as she had seen it in her head a split second before, Hanover pitched forward, completely surprised, and hopelessly off balance._

_But what she hadn't predicted, was the comical way he wind milled his arms and twirled in a complete circle before tumbling to the floor. His desperate attempt for balance reminded her so much of a dancing ballerina, that Kelly burst into an involuntary fit of giggles._

_She realized her mistake an instant later, an instant too late._

_Cursing angrily, Hanover clumsily pushed himself to his feet and kicked the offending backpack out of his way. __"Are you laughing at me?" he demanded, his voice husky and strangled with outrage._

_Kelly covered her mouth with both hands and shook her head violently, horror widening her green eyes until they looked like twin saucers. There was nothing funny now. __"No, sir- I- I'm sorry!" she choked. __Her eyes darted around for escape she knew wouldn't be possible. But, as usual, she was trapped. _

_Despite his large and bulky frame, Hanover moved impossibly fast. Before the first horrible scenario was finished flashing across the little girl's frightened, panicked mind, he had both hands around her throat. __Her cry for mercy cut abruptly short, Kelly gasped for air and felt Hanover's powerful bulk drive her backwards. The remaining air left in her lungs was slammed out of her in strangled grunt of pain as her back collided forcefully with the wall of the kitchen. Her head followed an instant later, thudding loudly against the wall's hard surface._

_Hanover struck her face."You're laughing at me?" he screamed furiously._

_If Kelly had been lucid enough to answer his question, she still wouldn't have been able to. Hanover's hand had tightened around her throat to the point of pain, turning her pitiful whimpers into nothing but gurgles and coughs. __Hanover purposely drove her head into the wall again, eliciting a choked yelp of pain from the terrified little girl and then let her crumple in a dazed heap to the floor. Knowing what was coming but unable to stop it, Kelly squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the clenched, angry fist to smash into the delicate bones of her face, render her blissfully unconscious and end the terror._

_The blow came quickly and pain did come with it. But not where she expected._

_And the scream immediately after wasn't from her lips._

_The instant after the loud smack of fist against skin, Hanover howled in agony, and fell backwards clutching his injured fist in his hand and letting loose a string of colorful curse words. __In his agony, he turned away for a moment to vent and Kelly took the opportunity to scramble away with her numb, dead forearm cradled to her chest. Her foster father had struck her bony forearm with his fist and ending up hurting himself more than her. She clambered to her feet and staggered backwards into the wall, watching her foster father with wide green eyes_

_"I'm sorry." she panted. "I didn't mean to."_

_But, Hanover was beyond placating with words. If he had been enraged by her laughing, then this put him at a level Kelly had never seen before. His eyes bore into her, dark and glittering with hate. She had never seen him look so dangerous. He had scared her, terrorized her, beaten her, but this time was different. This time, he looked like he wanted to kill her and nothing about the situation told her that he wouldn't._

_"Put your hands down." he said, his voice eerily calm, despite his entire body quivering with rage. "Now."_

_"Mr. Hanover- Sir, I'm really, really sorry." Kelly whimpered. She stared at him, wide eyed, blood dribbling down her chin from her nose, peering from behind the forearm that had saved her earlier, already turning a sick shade of purple._

_"Please, don't." she whispered. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."_

_"What's going on, Jim?"_

_The voice was unexpected. Light footsteps padded into the room and Mrs. Hanover appeared behind her husband, momentarily distracting them both. Kelly's gaze lifted hopefully to her, silently begging for rescue. If Mrs. Hanover saw her, she didn't seem alarmed by either the terror or blood on her face. But she had to take a chance._

_"Mrs. Hanover-" Kelly whimpered fearfully. "- please make him stop."_

_Mrs. Hanover's eyes flicked over to the corner, then back at her still silent husband. "Jim-"_

_He suddenly turned his murderous glare on her. "Go to bed!" he shot back._

_His wife looked appalled by his tone. She narrowed her eyes, threw up her hands, and to Kelly's horror, whirled around towards the direction of her bedroom. "Fine!" she yelled over her shoulder. "Go ahead! I hope you kill her! Go to jail, I'll be rid of you both!"_

_Kelly watched in complete disbelief as her only hope, her last chance of survival, stormed away with the same level of frustration she had when the paperboy flung their paper in a puddle. The bedroom door slammed shut and she was left hopelessly alone. When she looked back, Hanover's piercing gaze was fixed on her._

_"You're not even going to be able to walk when I'm finished." he whispered ominously._

_His threat sent a cold shudder down Kelly's already trembling form. He moved forward, and the only thing she could do to protect herself was bury her face in the corner and cry. Hanover was done talking now. He grabbed the girl roughly by the neck, dragged her into the next room where the radiator sat, and flung her little body to the floor. Kelly struggled as hard as she could, but he was much too strong. It was a hopeless battle and Kelly had lost before it even started. __Using his belt, the big man strapped her skinny wrists to the hard metal surface and secured them tightly. _

_"Let's see if you think this is funny." he growled at her._

_Kelly tried to form words, but her pitiful sobbing rendered them indecipherable. But, even the most eloquent of speeches couldn't save her now. __The blows rained down, over and over, never more than a second between until she could no longer scream, no longer feel, and the heavy blows were nothing more than hollow thuds echoing in her ears._

* * *

"Kelly!"

Kelly let out a strangled shriek and thrashed against the person gripping her shoulders. The nightmare was over, but the terror remained.

"Kelly, stop! It's me! It's just me!"

Still in the throes of her dream, the words reached her ears without meaning, and Kelly continued to struggle. She felt a strong hand close on each of her wrists and the sensation of being restrained sent her into a panic. She yanked one hand free and sent a blind fist flying in the vague direction of her tormentor.

But her aggression backfired.

She missed completely and, before she could comprehend how, she was yanked forward and flung face first into the ground. Not giving her an instant to recover, a heavy weight pressed itself into her back, and arms slid under and around her, pinning her own uselessly to her sides.

"Kelly! Calm down, honey, it's me! It's Jill!" the voice said firmly in her ear.

Jill? But how-?

Kelly stopped struggling and went limp. Jill?

With her thrashing ceased, her mind finally cleared enough for her to take a good look around. Gone was the kitchen, replaced with the dark interior of the hotel room. The cold linoleum floor was now soft and warm. Also, and most thankfully, gone was James Hanover, his deathgrip replaced by Jill's restraining but harmless hold.

Kelly lay panting heavily in her bed, tangled in her sweaty sheets, and awkwardly trapped under her best friend's weight. What had just happened?

"You back now?" Jill whispered. Her grip loosened considerably, but not enough so that Kelly could move her arms. Her hair was in her mouth and she was breathing too heavily to answer. She nodded instead. and felt Jill's warm sigh of relief on the back of the neck.

"Good. Don't try to hit me again." Jill warned softly. She released her hold on her friend and pushed herself up.

Kelly couldn't follow. She could only lay panting, trembling, until she felt someone touch her cheek, sweep back the hair from her mouth and away from her face.

"Shh, it's ok. Just a bad dream." Jill soothed. "I didn't hurt you, did I? C'mon, sit up."

Kelly numbly let Jill guide her to a sitting position and draw her into a hug. "Just breathe, it's ok." she heard her friend whisper.

Still dazed, Kelly rested her head in the crook of her friend's neck and let herself be comforted. Though her mind was racing, it still felt several seconds behind. The dream, a horribly vivid memory was all it had been, was so very real, as if she was experiencing Hanover's cruelty for the first time. Later, she knew she would be embarrassed, but right now the overwhelming need to feel safe outranked dignity. She buried her face in Jill's shoulder, inhaled the calming scent of the conditioner her friend loved so much, listened to her soothing murmurs of reassurance, and concentrated on controlling her breathing.

"You're shaking." Jill said after a moment, both concern and surprise in her voice. "Kelly, what happened?"

"Nothing." Kelly croaked, not aware of how stupid her answer sounded. "I'm fine. Sorry I-"

Jill laughed out loud. "You're not fine. Look at you." She ran her fingers through Kelly's sweaty hair. "What's going on with you?"

Kelly shook her head. "Nightmare. Just a nightmare. I'm sorry."

"Just a nightmare?" Jill echoed doubtfully. "Kelly, you were freaking out! I couldn't wake you up- and who was hurting you?"

"What? No one." Kelly answered immediately. She tried to pull away, but Jill held her fast.

"No one? Kelly, you're lying to me." Jill said sternly. "You were screaming, I've never seen you like that before."

"It was a nightmare, Jill. I'm fine now." Kelly murmured. She tried to pull away again, and this time was successful.

"Who was hurting you in your dream, Kelly." Jill asked again, leaning forward suspiciously. "You were screaming for someone to stop hurting you."

Kelly looked stricken.

"I-no..no, I wasn't." she opposed pitifully.

Jill laughed again. "Kelly-" she said firmly. "-you're so shaken up, you can't even lie right." She reached out and wrapped her fingers around Kelly's wrist, halting her attempt to slide out of the bed. "Kelly, this is coming from somewhere, I know it. Something's wrong. Why can't you ju-"

"Nothing's wrong!" Kelly cried shrilly. She yanked her arm away from and stumbled out of bed, no real direction in mind. As needy as she had been minutes ago, the moment of weakness was over and distance was all she wanted.

"You're lying!" Jill shouted back, her pretty features twisted with a heartbreaking mixture of fear, concern, and anger. "Kelly, you've been acting so weird! I- I've never seen you like this! Not even when we first met. You're not sleeping, you're not eating, you're not talking! What's wrong? Is it the case? Cause Charlie can just fly you ba-"

"It's not the case." Kelly interrupted heatedly, though her voice had returned to an appropriate volume. She swallowed hard. She felt trapped, wired and on edge, teetering on the brink of destruction. This had been an unforeseen flaw in her plan and right now it didn't look like there was any way out of it. Her chest heaved and her breaths were forced and ragged with fear and emotion.

And Jill could see it all. Any fool could.

She couldn't meet her best friend's gaze, and stared out the window at the dark street instead.

Jill sighed and stood up to face her. "If it's not the case, then what is it?" she asked sternly. "Are you in trouble?

"No, Jill, I'm not in trouble." Kelly groaned, burying her face in her hands. But she was. She was in a lot of trouble. The trapped feeling was giving way to anxiety. She had to get out of here. Had to do something. She began to restlessly pace along the far wall, Jill's blue eyes studying her intently.

"Then what is it, Kell?" Jill asked gently, her tone softening. "Don't tell me it's nothing. I can see there's something wrong."

Kelly stopped pacing and hitched a breath. She had ruined everything. Everything. They would ask questions, they would know the truth. A flood of emotions hit her already exhausted body, and feeling completely drained, she slumped into the chair by the window and dropped her head in her hands.

Jill, for the time being, knew better than to approach her. "Kelly?" she called hesitantly. "Kelly, tell me what's wrong. I can help."

Kelly shook her head. No. No, she couldn't.

She was on her own.

Suddenly humiliated, Kelly pulled herself to her feet and moved quickly toward the door.

"Nothing, Jill." she whispered. "It's fine. I'll be back later."

Jill watched in utter disbelief as her barefoot, nightgown clad friend reached for the doorknob, some fit of lunacy clearly leading her to believe that walking outside in the dark in an unfamiliar city was the best course of action. She let out an angry cry of frustration and with a jerk of her elbow a pillow went flinging through the air and splatted against Kelly's back, startling her and making her whirl around in surprise.

For all the love and concern Jill had for her best friend, there was nothing to be gained by sweet talking right now.

"Oh, Kelly! The sun isn't even up, you're in your pajamas, out of your goddamn mind, and Sabrina has the car!" she snapped angrily. "Think, Kelly! Where the hell are you going?"

Kelly stood speechless for a moment, stunned by Jill's abrupt change of demeanor, before realizing she was right. There really was no where to go. Her cheeks grew hot. She lowered her eyes and stared at the fallen pillow at her feet, at a loss for words and too ashamed to look up.

Jill sighed heavily and muttered a few curses under her breath. Now she had upset her. Where the hell was that happy medium?

"Ok,ok. Look, I'm sorry." she said quickly. "Just come here, come lie down and go back to sleep. You're not thinking straight. If you go outside you're gonna get hit by a car or something."

When Kelly didn't move, Jill groaned and clasped both hands together in a sincere show of desperation.

"Please, Kelly. Don't leave again. We'll forget all about it ok?" she pleaded. "I won't mention it again, I just can't have you running off and getting hurt. I was supposed to watch you. Sabrina will kill me-"

"I don't need taking care of." Kelly almost let slip from her lips. But the fresh memory of whimpering and trembling and having to be soothed like a small child quickly resurface, giving her just enough presence of mind to not blurt out anything stupid.

Jill heard none of this train of thought and interpreted Kelly's silence as indecision. "C'mon, Kelly, we'll- we'll just go back to bed, like it never happened, what do you say?" she begged, the pained look on her face reigniting the nausea that had been so present the past week.

Kelly looked up hesitantly. Was she telling the truth? Would a few minutes of embarrassment be all this slip up would cost her?

Did it even matter anymore?

She didn't care, she decided. The past week had left her physically, emotionally, and mentally drained, and right now a warm bed was all that mattered. The rest could wait until morning.

With a slight nod of her head, Kelly relaxed, padded quietly back to her bed and slowly sat down.

"Thank you." Jill sighed in relief. One step at a time, she decided. She'd keep her here and confront her tomorrow with Sabrina, when she wasn't so jumpy. To disguise her plotting, she smiled and slipped an arm around Kelly's shoulder to give her a friendly squeeze that Kelly was too embarrassed to return. " Go on. Lie down. I'll sit here with you until fall asleep, ok?"

Kelly shook her head and wearily crawled back under the covers. "You don't have to, I'm fine." she whispered awkwardly, her face flushed with embarrassment.

Jill smiled and rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah, I can see that." she quipped good naturedly. "Just shut up and go back to sleep, ok kiddo?"

The normalcy of her teasing was enough to bring a faint smile to Kelly's face. She obediently closed her eyes and willed her body to relax. Whatever happened tomorrow, whatever repercussions this would have, whatever humiliation she would feel, would all be dealt with tomorrow. Not now. Right now she was too tired to think.

But there was one thing she had to be certain of.

"Jill?" Kelly called suddenly.

She felt her friend's eyes in the darkness. "Yeah?"

"Don't tell Bri."

Kelly sounded so like an innocent child, that Jill laughed. "I won't." she answered. "Go to sleep."

But this wasn't reassurance enough. "Promise me." Kelly whispered.

Jill gave a heavy sigh. "Yeah, Kell. I promise."

* * *

"Like someone was killing her, Bri! You should have seen it!"

Sabrina, the little purple notebook clutched in one hand, took a few steps backwards, unconsciously retreating from her friend's intensity. "What do you mean, Jill? Is she ok?" she asked.

"What do I mean?" Jill echoed irritably. "I mean she went nuts in her sleep last night. Starting screaming and kicking!" She leaned forward and gestured impatiently towards her face. "She almost slugged me in the mouth, Bri! When have you seen her do that?"

Sabrina groaned, and again tried to slip by her excited friend. "Once or twice before at the academy. Only she actually did hit me. Kicked me r-"

"Oh, Sabrina!" Jill scolded. "I wasn't really looking for an answer!"

"Then why'd you ask?"

"Look, what happened last night wasn't like that! I think she's really scared of someone! And I think that someone is here in Carson City! We need to get this out of her now!"

Sabrina let out a controlled exhale and forced herself to relax and not shove Jill out of the way. She had important information to their case here in her hand. Information she wanted to share. But, since Jill had seen her car pull up and dashed outside to meet her, she'd been unexpectedly bombarded with so much rambling about Kelly, that she hadn't had a chance to so much as bring it up. It was frustrating beyond compare. This was about their case. The case they were being paid to solve And though she was just as worried about Kelly as Jill was, wouldn't putting an end to this investigation and getting her home to Los Angeles be better for her than sneaking around behind her back? Whatever was wrong with her had to do with this case and why treat the symptoms when the cause could be done away with much more easily?

"Jill, I think I found something." she said, hoping her avoidance wouldn't get her another angry outburst.

To her great fortune, it didn't.

Jill's features registered confusion and then excitement, as she noticed the notebook in her friend's arm. "Oh, with the diary?" she asked quickly. "What did you find?"

"Maybe a lead." Sabrina answered. She shot Jill an exasperated look. "I'd like to show you. Can I come inside now?"

Jill looked bewildered for a moment before gamely rolling her eyes. Maybe she had been a little on the dramatic side. She jerked her head toward the door, took her friend's arm and lead her inside the still dark motel room, the heavy shades drawn to keep out the early morning light.

"Come sit here." Jill whispered, as she groped along the wall for her bedside lamp. Sabrina obeyed and waited until Jill had clicked on the little lamp, illuminating a portion of their room in soft yellow light, before she slapped the notebook down on the nightstand and began hurriedly flipping through it.

"Kelly still sleeping?" she asked as she hunted for the entry in question.

"No, I'm up."

Both Sabrina and Jill turned toward the soft, sleepy voice coming from the next bed. The dim light revealed their friend, shrouded in shadow, propped up on one elbow in bed. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and without another word, swung her legs over the bed.

"Morning, Kell." Jill said first, waving her over. "Come look at this."

"Yeah, I think we might finally have something." Sabrina added. "Come look."

She flipped another page, found the entry she was looking for and managed to contain herself until Kelly had quietly padded over and knelt down beside her before she started talking. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at Kelly, momentarily distracted by her demeanor.

Head lowered, eyes fixed on the floor, almost as if she was embarrassed, the way she ducked awkwardly away from the friendly arm Jill tried to slide around her shoulders. Jill was right about one thing. Whatever had happened to her in her sleep still had her shaken up.

But, there would be time for that later. In Los Angeles. Comfortable at home, where it was safe to pry her.

Ignoring the obvious tension between Kelly and Jill, Sabrina pointed to the middle of the page, where the incriminating words started.

"Look here." she said quickly. "Becky wanted to run away. She had it all planned out, the day she was gonna do it, how she'd pull it off, everything."

Jill and Kelly leaned forward interestedly and were quiet for several moments as they read the urgent, messy handwriting in the pages. It was obvious the girl had been upset upon writing it. The ink was smudged, the indentions of the girl's pen prevalent even on the back of the page, scrawled in deeply by an angry hand. Rips in the paper, furious scratch outs, and three blots in the page that had most likely been falling tears, made the words leap from the pages, as if the girl was screaming them rather than confining them to the pages of her diary.

"_I hate this place so much. I hate the Hanovers. I can't stand it anymore and I can't tell anyone except you or I'll be in a lot of trouble. _

_I'm running away. I'll pretend to go to school and when they're gone I'll come back, take my things and just start walking. Rhonda gave me ten dollars for my birthday and I can ride the bus as far as that will take me. I guess it's stupid to write this down, but it makes me feel better. I'll leave you here just in case Mr. Hanover catches me. Rhonda if you're reading this, I'm real sorry. I tried really hard."_

"Wow." Jill breathed when she had finished. "Is this the last entry?"

Sabrina nodded her head. "It is. She didn't date it, but the last page she did date was May 22, and that was four entries back. It couldn't have been written too long before she died."

Visibly disturbed by the dark content, Jill gingerly lifted the page and looked behind it, studying the raised lines from the script on the front. "Yeah, I guess so." she said quietly. "Doesn't really help our golden boy's image, does it?"

"Sure doesn't." Sabrina answered. "I read the whole thing." She bit her lip uncomfortably. "Nothing in there outright says that he had ever hit her or anything, but you get the picture that the kid was really unhappy."

Kelly sighed heavily. "She was thirteen. A lot of teenagers are unhappy." she grumbled. "Everything in that diary is raging with hormones. It's all circumstantial." She raked her fingers through her disheveled hair, anxious for no particular reason that her friends knew of. "And anyway, it doesn't matter if he didn't win father of the year. We just have to prove he didn't kill her."

"Exactly." Sabrina agreed. "I don't think any of that will matter if we can prove she ran away and got on a bus. Anything could have happened to her if she was roaming around town alone. I don't think the rest of the book will do too much damage to him."

"So no one called and reported seeing her on a bus the morning she died?" Jill asked, after a beat of contemplative silence. "I find that hard to believe. Wasn't there a missing person report that entire day?"

"Not till the next morning." Sabrina answered quickly. "And like they said, if the C.C.P.D. picked him up right away, there couldn't have been much doubt about her killer. General population doesn't know everything in the police report. All they know is the kid went missing and her foster dad killed her."

Jill was quiet for a moment before nodding her head and standing. "Definitely worth a shot then."

"I think so." Sabrina piped up. She too rose to her feet and excitedly rubbed her hands together. "Ok-" she started, the beginnings of a plan obvious in her manner and tone. "I'll go check out the bus depot, see if any of the drivers recognize her picture. Maybe she was riding with someone or left with someone." She glanced over at Kelly, preoccupied with staring off into nothing, and then caught Jill's eye and gave a slight nod.

Maybe this would get Jill off of both of their backs. And since she hadn't been the one smothering Kelly since their plane touched down, maybe it would be easier to get something out of her if they were alone.

"Kell?-" she asked. She waited until her friend looked up expectantly before continuing. "Why don't you come with me? I figure we can ask some questions at the bus depot and then take a ride along the route she might have taken. Maybe we can talk to some regulars who might have seen her."

Kelly nodded listlessly.

"And while you're touring the city, I'll go have another talk with Becky's friends." Jill added. "Maybe with a new angle they'll remember something."

Sabrina nodded. "Good idea." She glanced down and gave Kelly a light pat on the head. "Hey, I didn't have time to pick anything up. Go on and get dressed. I think we should grab a quick breakfast before heading out."

"Ooh!" Jill cried excitedly, giving her friend an urgent swat on the shoulder.

The gesture only confused Sabrina, who responded with a puzzled stare, one arched eyebrow asking for clarification.

Jill only giggled. "Nothing. You just read my mind!"

Sabrina smiled and shook her head. Figured. It wasn't hard to guess what was on Jill's mind.

If only Kelly's was as easy to read.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

An hour and a half later found Kelly and Sabrina in the front seat of their rental car, pulling away from the small diner where the girls had eaten breakfast.

Since it was Saturday, no summer activities were being held and leaving Jill at the junior high would have been pointless. Instead, she'd made a few calls and decided to take a cab to the girl's home, leaving Kelly and Sabrina to do what they could at the bus depot.

Sabrina chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully and glanced at her quiet friend as she maneuvered the silver Chevy out onto the main street. It was only eight in the morning and traffic was light, giving her a chance to study Kelly without too much distraction.

She'd hardly eaten any breakfast. A few bites, a few sips of coffee, almost as if she was too riled up to do much but fidget in her seat and toy with her fork. In fact, Kelly hadn't been eating much at all the past few days. There was a darkness under her eyes that suggested she hadn't been sleeping enough either, Sabrina realized. She was jumpy, more nervous and guarded than usual, defensive to the point of aggression. Paranoid almost, as if at any moment, someone was going to jump out and attack her.

Something was very wrong.

Not that she hadn't been aware of it before, but maybe now, away from Jill's prying and with a little gentle coaxing, maybe she could get something out of her. Jill would certainly expect that. Without wasting time thinking of a strategy, Sabrina blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Were your eggs cold?" she asked conversationally. She immediately looked away and rolled her eyes in disgust.

Jill was clearly better at this.

Kelly looked confused for a moment, as if her mind had been elsewhere, before realizing what her friend was talking about. "No-" she stammered. "-they were fine. Why?"

Sabrina shrugged. "Mine were a little. Just wondering if that's why you didn't eat them."

There. It was out. No turning back now.

She shot a discreet look at Kelly to see if she'd raised her guard with the question.

She had.

Kelly's facial expression blanked and she leaned her head tiredly against her window. "They were a little cold I guess. I don't know, I just wasn't that hungry."

"What about the rest of the week?"

"What about it?"

"You haven't been yourself."

Kelly laughed softly. "Sometimes I think you would be happy about that." she answered.

She suddenly looked like the old Kelly, her radiant smile, playful demeanor, and the abrupt transformation startled Sabrina. Could she really do that, as if personalities were switches to be pressed? "Kell, you know what I mean." she said quietly, bypassing her attempt at lightheartedness. "C'mon now, Jill is worried sick, I'm worried. What's going on with you? You've been weird since we left California."

Kelly blanked again. "I've just been feeling a little si-"

"Oh stop. You're not sick." Sabrina cut her off. "Something's wrong. And I think if it's coming between us and solving this case, that we should know what it is."

"Nothing's coming between us and the case, Bri."

"No?" Sabrina challenged. "You're not eating. You're not sleeping. You're not focused. You're not communicating with us, your head just isn't into this." As she spoke, her voice took a stern note that stopped Kelly from interrupting. "And I don't think it's fair that me and Jill have to pick up your slack."

Kelly narrowed her eyes angrily. "I'm doing my job."

"Yeah?" Sabrina continued "How can I be sure of that? I see you distracted all day, sneaking off, being secretive, and as your partner that makes me question if you really are." Before Kelly could verbally lay into her, she quickly grabbed her hand, startling her into silence. "And as your friend that loves you, it makes me wonder if you need help and are too scared to ask for it."

The turnaround caught her off guard. A quick flash of something, maybe anger, maybe fear, flashed across Kelly's face before disappearing, melding into that emotionless mask she so often wore.

"Sabrina-" Kelly started, attempting to pull her fingers out of her friend's grip. "It's noth-"

Sabrina squeezed her hand. "Oh, it's something, Kell. We know it's something."

Kelly looked stricken, before that too was wiped clean. "Bri- don't- It's- it's nothing. Just-"

"Just what?" Sabrina urged. "What's wrong? Are you in trouble? Tell me."

"No! I mean no, I'm not in trouble." Kelly stammered. "I- I can't-"

"Can't what?" Sabrina pressed. "Let me help."

"You can't." Kelly said flatly. She jerked her hand away and folded it anxiously in her lap, fixing her gaze out her window and giving Sabrina her back.

"How do you know if you don't tell me?" Sabrina continued softly. She coasted the car to a stop at a red light and, hands now free, she again reached out and pried Kelly's hand out of her lap. "What's going on with you? Kelly, look at me."

Kelly refused, but didn't make an attempt to pull her hand out of Sabrina's grasp.

"It's something. I can see it, it's eating you up." Sabrina coaxed, squeezing her friend's hand urgently. "Please tell me."

Kelly continued staring out the window.

But she was breaking, the foundation of the wall she'd put up around herself was starting to crack, crumbling away and threatening to expose the vulnerable young woman hiding behind it. There were signs, only hints, ever so subtle, but they were there, revealing what Kelly herself never would. Her tics. The quiet, but sharp intake of breath, the way her knee gave a twitch underneath their hands, the corner of her mouth tugging downward, so slight that the movement would have flashed by unnoticed had Sabrina not been studying the side of her face so intently, searching hard for the very things she was now seeing.

"Kelly-" Sabrina whispered gently, giving her a shake. "-come on."

Finally, Kelly turned, her face pained to the point that it tore at Sabrina's heart. She bit her lip, shook her head, stalling, trying to simultaneously find the words and maintain composure. Sabrina held her breath, torn between being the patient friend she had been and wanting to shake the words from Kelly's mouth like the detective she was.

"Bri, don't-" she started, her voice strained, maybe close to tears. " You don't know what-"

Sabrina felt her heart skip a beat. Here it was. "Then tell me." she pleaded.

Kelly worked her jaw nervously, her breathing shallow and quick, a dam ready to burst. Her eyes suddenly flicked to the side, distracted by the soft tap of a horn behind them. "Look, it's-"

Another tap of the horn drew a loud exasperated sight from Sabrina's throat. "It's what?" she pressed impatiently.

"Bri-"

The tapping horn gave way to an angry blare that had Sabrina whirling around in her seat in frustration, cursing furiously under her breath. "It's red!" she shouted into the backseat. She immediately turned back to Kelly. "What happened? It's what?"

"It's green."

Sabrina's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "What?"

"The light. It's green." Kelly muttered, point at the stoplight, long since changed. "Go. Drive."

The horn behind them blared again, this time in dissonant harmony with another car that had found its path blocked by the stalled Chevy. The first vehicle angrily swerved around them, it's driver shaking his fist out the passenger window, mouthing what were probably not helpful pointers on how to correctly observe a green light.

"Dammit." Sabrina breathed, stomping roughly on the accelerator in her frustration. The erratic movement jolted both her and Kelly backwards as she thrust the Chevy through the intersection with a slight protesting squeal of rubber on asphalt. She changed lanes to avoid another admonishment from the second driver stuck behind them and then chanced a look at Kelly.

"So what were you saying?" she asked.

But the moment was gone and with it, every trace of weakness from Kelly's soft features. Kelly regarded her question with a careless shrug, her face a careful mask of neutrality. "Nothing, Bri." she answered lightly. "It's just hard, that's all. I was a foster kid too, remember? I know what she went through." She gave a contemptuous laugh. "Well, mostly. I lived."

Sabrina fought the urge to slam her fist into the steering wheel. "And that's what's been bothering you?" she asked, her previous frustration still more than clear.

Kelly nodded dismissively. "Yeah, I'll try not to let it get to me." she answered quickly. "So, how do you want to do this once we get there?"

The abrupt change in subject put an end to the weak, desperate grab for answers Sabrina had been planning in her head. With a heavy sigh, she forced her eyes back to the road, to the large building enclosed in chain link fences and surrounded by parked city buses that was their destination.

"Go in. Find the shift manager. See what bus goes where and then talk to the driver, ride along and question whoever else we can." she answered wearily. "Shouldn't be too hard. We'll divide and conquer as usual."

Kelly nodded her head, almost disinterestedly. "Sounds good, Bri. I bet someone saw her."

"Yeah." Sabrina said quietly. "I have a good feeling about this."

She couldn't have felt any further from the truth, however. The case may have been getting closer to being solved, but the situation with Kelly was still just as hopeless as it had been before. Sabrina let her eyes travel back to Kelly's unknowing face one last time. Like she'd been all week, save for the momentary loss of control just minutes ago, she looked calm, distant, and disinterested. They may have been sitting a few feet apart, but for all that she would accomplish with Kelly like this, miles could have separated them.

Kelly's gaze suddenly caught her staring, and Sabrina quickly averted her eyes.

So close. She'd been so close.

Jill was going to kill her.

* * *

Jill lowered her arm and took an impatient step backwards.

The door she'd just knocked on should belong to the family of Kimberly Horowitz, the only known close friend to poor little Becky Saunders, but if it did, she'd have to wait a little longer to be sure.

She sighed and ran a hand through her blonde hair. There hadn't been a car in the driveway when she'd arrived, but hoping that someone would be home, she'd knocked anyway. It appeared she'd have to wait and hopefully it wouldn't be long because she'd sent the cab away.

Drumming her fingers restlessly, Jill sank down on the porch step and sat impatiently to wait for the family's return. With nothing else to do, she watched the sharp line of the house's shadow, shading her on the porch, slowly approach her as the minutes ticked by.

Thirty or forty minutes passed and the shadow's edge drew dangerously close to her feet, when a car's engine finally caught her attention.

Jill looked up hopefully and was rewarded with the sight of a white Dodge sedan rolling up the drive. She stood and, noting the confused and apprehensive appearance of the couple in the front seat, gave a friendly wave. The car stopped and a tall, thin middle aged man stepped out.

"Can I help you?" he asked warily.

Jill bounced over and extended her hand, flashing him what she hoped was her most winning smile. "Hi, I'm Jill Munroe with the Townsend Agency out in L.A.. I spoke to your daughter a couple days ago regarding Rebecca Saunders." As she spoke, she leaned around the girl's father and wiggled her fingers in a little wave towards the car, where Kim was staring out her window.

The girl timidly waved back.

The man took Jill's hand and then the business card she offered him.

"A private detective, huh? Oh, I'm Ray Horowitz." he stammered, looking over his shoulder to his daughter, who only shrugged. "What can I do for you?"

Jill smiled at him and raised her hands in a show of peace. "Don't worry, I just need to ask Kim a few question. Something's come up in our investigation."

Ray Horowitz raised an eyebrow. "About Becky's murder?" he asked, a trace of anger in his voice. "That man, her father, killed her. What else are you investigating?"

"Well, he hasn't been convicted-" Jill started. But judging from Horowitz's immediate look of contempt, she quickly decided that introducing herself as a detective hired to prove Hanover's innocence would not win her any favors. Without thinking, her words changed. "-we need evidence to prove that. And your daughter was one of the few that talked regularly to Becky."

This seemed to satisfy him.

Horowitz sighed and nodded his head before turning around and gesturing for his wife and children. "Alright." he relented. "Whatever puts that monster behind bars." Kim approached them as they spoke and her father pulled her around in front of him, protectively resting his hands on her shoulders. With their light brown hair, dark eyes, and slim build, they looked very much alike and Jill smiled at the sight.

"I never did like that man." Horowitz grumbled, giving his grudging consent. "Do you want to come inside?"

"Sure. Thanks." Jill said, a little too quickly. Even though she'd been sitting in the shade for the past forty five minutes, it was still Nevada in June and she could feel her thin blouse sticking to her back.

After exchanging pleasantries with Kim's mother and older brother, Jill was led into the much appreciated airconditioned home, through their well kept living room to Kim's bedroom. Once assuring her father that their discussion would be brief, Jill closed the door and turned to face the girl. She'd hoped by using her bedroom, a familiar and comforting place, that Kim would be a little more at ease. It hardly seemed the case, though. Jill looked around the girl's room for a moment, taking in the sky blue walls, the painted brass bed, and the abundance of David Cassidy and various rock band posters. It seemed like such a typical young girl's room, colorful, busy, completely normal. Except for the conversation she'd have to have with her.

"So, how are you Kim?" Jill started, giving the girl a trustworthy smile.

Kim shrugged and sat down on her unmade bed. "Alright, I guess." She folded her hands on her lap and looked nervously around. "Is something wrong? Why do you need to talk to me again?"

"No, nothing's wrong." Jill said slowly. "Just- well, different now."

Kim looked puzzled and stopped toying with the edge of her bed sheets. "Different? How?"

"Well, for starters, we found her diary."

Kim looked mildly surprised. "I didn't know she kept one. Was there something important in it?"

The girl seemed just as curious about the diary as she and Sabrina had been earlier and her genuine cluelessness was disheartening. Jill fought to keep the look of disappointment off her face and smiled gently instead. "Becky wrote that she planned to run away." she explained carefully. "It was all planned out right there in her diary. Did she ever mention anything about that to you at school?"

Kim's eyes flitted briefly to Jill's face before finding her hands. She shrugged slightly, but the nervous tic had not gone unnoticed. Hope was restored.

"Kim?" Jill called softly. "Did she ever mention her plan to run away from home?"

Kim sighed and nervously wrung her hands in front of her. "Not outright." she whispered. "But- but she didn't like her foster parents very much. She said she wished she was somewhere else."

"What would she say exactly?" Jill pressed.

The girl shrugged again. "Just stuff. She said her foster dad was a jerk and that she hated him. The last time I saw her she said she wanted to be back with her real mom again."

This was new. Jill sucked in a breath and tried to mask how eager she was for more information, fearful of unsettling her young witness. "Her real mom? She had a mom?"

Becky nodded. "Yeah, but the state took her away from her. They didn't talk or anything. I don't know what she did wrong."

"Do you know where her mom was?"

"No." Kim answered honestly. "She just always said she'd like to go up and see her mom."

"Up?" Jill repeated, a trace of desperation in her tone. "So north? Upstate? Oregon? Idaho?"

Kim shook her head. "I don't know. I don't even think Becky really knew."

Jill sighed her frustration and the sound made Kim look up and frown.

"Sorry, Ms. Munroe." she said meekly. "I didn't think she'd actually do it. If-if I thought she really would, I would have said something about beforel. I'm really s-"

"No, it's ok, honey." Jill said quickly, summoning back a gentle smile. "You've been a big help. And you can call me Jill."

The gesture seemed to put Kim at ease and the anxiety disappeared from her face. "I just want him in jail for what he did to Becky." she whispered after a moment of awkward silence. Her countenance sobered and she lowered her eyes sadly. "I never knew anyone that-that died before. I didn't know her that well but she seemed really cool. I thought we were gonna be good friends."

Jill nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. Kimberly Horowitz was obviously pained and upset by the death of her friend and classmate. She'd stopped making eye contract as soon as Rebecca's diary was mentioned, but the behavior was out of grief rather than guilt or nerves. This girl wasn't hiding anything. Everything she knew had been told.

"Well, Kim." Jill started, putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. "I want someone in jail this too." She reached into her purse and pulled out a rubber banded stack of business cards. "And we'll make sure that happens, don't worry."

With a final pat on the shoulder, Jill stood, peeling off a card as she did.

"Here, honey." Jill said, offering it to the girl. "If you find out anything else you can call that number, ok?"

Kim took the card and nodded. "Ok." she agreed softly.

"And Kim? If you just- you know- need to talk-" Jill continued. "Then I'm good for that too, huh?"

The girl smiled and nodded her head again. "Thanks." she whispered.

Jill smiled and rubbed Kim's shoulder sympathetically as she made her way to the door. "I'm sorry about your friend, Kim." she called. "And don't worry, we're doing everything in our power. I have a feeling this will all be over soon."

The girl was quiet for a moment before finally lifting her head, revealing a brave, watery smile and grateful brown eyes. "Yeah. Thank you…Jill."

Jill offered her a parting smile and quietly saw herself down the hallway and out of the Horowitz's home, giving her parents a brief farewell on her way out. Outside and away from the shade of the porch, the sun was dazzlingly bright, hot yet breezy, a beautiful summer day.

Yet her meeting with Kim had lowered her spirits and Jill noticed nothing but the heat. This girl's death wouldn't be just a single tragic event to be forgotten after her murderer was brought to justice, just another newspaper clipping and file in their archives. This girl would be a painful and real memory for many. Her social worker, her teachers, classmates, and now possibly a mother, affecting how a little girl like Kimberly Horowitz would develop emotionally. And Kim couldn't be the only one.

Jill sighed and squinted her eyes against the glare of sunlight. She needed to get back to the hotel and make some phone calls. Nothing in Rebecca's paperwork had suggested the existence of a mother and it was doubtful the woman would know of her daughter's plans. But it was something and warranted investigation.

She made it a few blocks down to the intersection of a busy street and waited patiently at the bus stop, half wondering if she'd run into Kelly and Sabrina. Though she'd take any bus, regardless of its passengers, to get out of this heat.

When the light traffic streamed by for ten minutes without yielding a bus, Jill began to get antsy. It was getting hotter by the minute, the walking had left her thirsty and tired, and the only shade came from the shadow of a thin, leafless tree. But luckily, just as Jill was about to give genuine consideration to hitch-hiking, a familiar pale yellow vehicle materialized out of the distance and her face broke into an involuntary grin.

A cab. An air conditioned cab. Even better.

With more eagerness than was necessary, Jill waved both arms to flag it down. The vehicle rolled to stop a few yards in front of her and without caring how silly she looked, she jogged up to it and clambered into the backseat.

"Thank God for you!" she greeted breathlessly. "This heat! I feel like I just ate a basket of peaches, I'm so sticky!"

There was no response and puzzled by the cabbie's lack of courtesy, Jill finally looked up and into the rear view mirror. The flirty grin she'd fixed on her face froze.

"Oh-" she stammered after a few seconds of awkward staring. "Hey, there."

The cab driver, the same one she'd seen twice before with Sabrina, only lowered his head to the steering wheel and whispered what was probably a prayer of intercession before taking a deep breath and bravely turning to her. The pained look on his face was as unmistakable as it was unappreciated.

"Where to, lady?" he sighed miserably.

* * *

"You get the feeling he just wanted to get rid of us?"

"Not really. He gave us coffee, didn't he?"

"Have you tried it? I think he only offers it to people he wants to get rid of."

Kelly shrugged and took a sip of her paper cup of coffee. Her face immediately twisted into a grimace of disgust at the taste of the bitter liquid. "Ok, you're right. I think that qualifies as attempted murder." she agreed, slinging the disturbingly thick remains of her drink into the bushes.

Sabrina laughed and sent the rest of her drink the same direction as the two made their way out of the bus depot and toward their car.

"Kelly? You ever think you'd willingly spend an entire day on a city bus?" Sabrina sighed, as she climbed into the driver's seat.

"I never thought I'd willingly get back on the city bus."

Though Kelly had seemed distracted and tired throughout their meeting with the operations manager, she didn't miss a beat and her answer pulled a giggle from Sabrina's throat. "At least you're being paid for it now." she laughed.

Kelly rolled her eyes. "There are some things money just doesn't make better."

Sabrina nodded her agreement and the two girls settled themselves in the car and backed out onto the empty street. It had been just after nine in the morning when they left the manager's office and already the June heat had both girls rolling down their windows to breathe inside the sweltering interior of the rental. Sabrina and Kelly shifted uncomfortably in the leather seats, already baked by the early morning sun, and thought quietly to themselves as they drove.

After spending nearly an hour flashing Becky's picture to various bus drivers and managers at the depot, they'd been steered to the operation supervisor's office. Burt Stephens, while not able to recognize the girl, was able to give them the locations of the bus stops closest to her house and the number of the bus she would have taken. But though the girls had been given a solid start, their thoughtful silence had nothing to do with either Rebecca Saunders, their chat with Burt Stephens, or Bus No. 1543

A never ending whirlwind of thoughts about the tape, her slip with Jill, James and Candace Hanover, and her nightmarish time in their home plagued Kelly's mind, leaving her visibly distracted and quiet.

All of which Sabrina was paying very close attention to.

But, not wanting to probe Kelly so soon after her previous attempt, she decided to wait. Sabrina was patient, refusing to waste her second attempt, come up empty handed. The moment would present itself, she decided.

And before she was ready, it was upon her.

The two arrived at the bus stop early and with ten minutes to kill, sat down on the bench to wait for the bus they'd spend the rest of the day in. Kelly looked as comfortable as she'd seen her since arriving, though that probably had more to do with the heat and her being tired more so than relaxed and at ease. But if that was as loose as she was going to get, than now was the time to act. Surprisingly, they were alone and with gut wrenching certainty, Sabrina knew that she'd never get a better opportunity.

"Hey, Kell?" she started.

Kelly, face tilted towards the sun and eyes closed, took a moment to respond. "Yeah?"

"Be real honest with me for a minute, huh?"

The relaxed position Kelly was in immediately straightened into one of guarded anxiety. She furrowed her brow as if confused, but her friend knew better, could see right through her.

"Tell me what's going on." Sabrina asked softly. "I'm worried about you and I-"

Kelly cut her off with a baffled laugh. "Bri, I already told you. It's nothing."

"No, it's something." Sabrina said quickly. "Something happened right before we left L.A. and don't tell me I'm making it up because I know you, Kelly. Something's going on."

Kelly heaved a sigh and casually adopted her previous, relaxed position on the bench. "Sabrina, I told you. It just bothers me that the kid was in the fo-"

"Oh stop." Sabrina snapped, almost angrily. "That's not what it is and you know it. What's going on? Did something happen before we left? Is there someone here that you're trying to avoid? What is it, Kelly?"

To her credit, Kelly didn't so much as flinch at the abrupt accusation. Instead, she shaded her eyes with one hand and groaned, as if her friend was bothering her with absolute nonsense. "No, Sabrina." she sighed. "This is all in your head."

"Is it?" Sabrina answered heatedly. "Come off it, Kelly. If me or Jill was hiding something and acting the way you've been acting the past few days, you'd be just as worried and you'd be all over me demanding an explanation."

"Bri-"

"Tell me you wouldn't."

Kelly sat up and regarded her friend with narrowed, green eyes. "Sabrina-"

Sabrina cut her off with an urgent shove to her shoulder. "Tell me you wouldn't, Kelly. Tell me you wouldn't be just as worried about me as I am about you."

"Stop." Kelly warned. "Sabrina-"

"No!" Sabrina shouted suddenly, rising to her feet. "Dammit Kelly! Enough of this! This has to stop!"

Like a cornered animal, Kelly jumped to her feet as well. And Sabrina knew she'd gone too far.

There it was. The loss of control. She couldn't keep it up anymore. Kelly was losing it. She'd seen Kelly angry, seen the aggressive and violent person her normally quiet and sweet best friend could be when provoked, but this was different. The anger blazing in her green eyes was desperate, panicked, fearful of letting whatever she was hiding slip through her fingers after working so hard to keep secret.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about." Kelly said in a quiet, silky voice.

"Yeah?" Sabrina challenged. "I think you do. And I think it's more than you're letting on. And I think it involves me and Jill."

"Sabrina, you let this go." Kelly warned again.

"It does involve us, doesn't it? When are you gonna tell us, huh? When your little secret ruins our case or gets somebody hurt? Jill's alone right now. You gonna get Jill hurt because you won't-"

"Stop." Kelly snapped furiously. "You're already on a case, you need to let this go."

But stopping was the last thing on Sabrina's mind. Kelly was on her last shred of willpower, hackles raised, every bit ready for a fight. She wouldn't be this defensive if there wasn't a reason.

"No, you need to tell me what's going on, Kelly!" Sabrina demanded, grabbing her friend's arm. Kelly immediately jerked it away and she knew better than to try that again.

"Look at you!" Sabrina cried. "You're so mad you want to hit me! Tell me what's got you like this!"

"I said, let it go!" Kelly shouted, her voice shrill and high. Whatever was keeping her emotions in check had snapped, allowing her anger to bubble to the surface, control her actions, and decide her words. "Leave me alone! This is none of your goddamn business!"

"No, I think it is!" Sabrina cut in. She took a step towards her friend and in her anger, Kelly didn't back away. "If this is gonna get me hurt or jeopardize our cas-"

"Stay out of it!" Kelly shouted again.

Sabrina sucked in a breath, ready to continue the heated argument, but before she could, the bus hissed to a stop behind Kelly and the sound distracted them both. The doors swung open and for a moment, the two could only stare at it.

"Coming up?" the driver asked, after a few seconds of awkward staring.

Sabrina couldn't answer. Her brown eyes swiveled from him to Kelly. Her head was turned, but her shoulders heaved, her hands were still balled into fists at her side, her entire stance readied for a fight.

"Uh- yeah, thanks." Sabrina managed. She shoved her hands in her pockets, took a deep, calming breath and started for the open doors. She was already inside before she realized Kelly had not followed. Sabrina turned and her eyes found her, still frozen in place, still tensed and confrontational. But the fight was gone from her eyes. She looked horrified and confused.

"Kell, come on." she called, gesturing toward the open doors.

But Kelly shook her head.

"No. You're right. I'd hate to jeopardize the case."

Sabrina groaned her frustration. "Kelly! Don't-" She didn't get to finish her sentence. Kelly turned, ducked her head and disappeared from the outline of the open bus door.

"Kelly!" Sabrina shouted, leaping forward. She stumbled slightly on the grimy steps, had to look away to regain her balance, and it was over. When she looked back up, Kelly was gone, vanished into the rows of stopped traffic, pedestrians, and neatly clipped hedges on the other side of the street. Sabrina's eyes darted frantically back and forth, but now without the additional height the bus steps had given her, Kelly was hidden from her sight. She swore loudly and took a few quick steps away from the bus.

"You coming or not?" the bus driver scolded her impatiently.

Sabrina turned toward his voice, then looked longingly back in the direction Kelly had vanished. There was no point now. Even if she managed to catch up with her, Kelly wasn't in the frame of mind to reason with. Given the choice of fight or flight, Kelly had chosen flight and if she didn't want to be found there was no way she would. The window of opportunity had just slammed shut on her fingers.

"Lady? I don't have time to sit here and w-"

"Yeah, I'm coming!" Sabrina snapped, with hostility not meant for him.

She breathed another curse under her breath, climbed on the bus and, avoiding eye contact with anyone, sank down onto an empty seat. The bus rolled forward and an obnoxious rider clapped his hands in mock celebration.

Sabrina ignored it.

If Kelly wanted to run around town with her secrets, avoid her friends, and shirk her duties, then to hell with her, Sabrina decided furiously. She shrank down into her seat, alone in her cloud of anger and tried to steer her thoughts from Kelly to the case she now had to work on alone.

Fine. Let Kelly go. Let her run off and be alone.

Maybe it was better that way.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

What had she just done?

How could she have been so stupid, so easily lost control? Would she really have struck her best friend? Was that who she'd degenerated into?

Kelly quickly weaved her way through a small group of people, shoulder checking a man hard enough that it nearly knocked her off the sidewalk, hard enough that the sting of the blow stayed with her almost two blocks later. But she didn't care, hardly even felt it, let his angry cry of protest bounce off of her back unheard.

She had to get away. Far away.

To think, she told herself. Just to think.

She continued forward in a frantic, mile eating walk that took her, without her knowledge, to a different part of town. It took nearly twenty minutes of walking in the Nevada heat before she finally felt safe enough to turn around.

Gone was the bus stop, gone was Sabrina, and gone was any chance that she would get through this without her friendship with Sabrina and Jill suffering.

For the first time since she stormed away from her friend, Kelly slowed her frenzied pace to a controlled walk. It was hot outside, quickly approaching noon and her quick strides had left her shirt damp and uncomfortable.

What was happening to her? How had this so quickly changed who she was, turned her friends against her, her against them?

Kelly muttered a curse under her breath and anxiously ran both hands through her sweaty hair. Why now? Why this? She was losing it, crumbling and falling apart right in front of her friends and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

Except lie, she thought bitterly to herself. Lie and fight and hurt them.

The guilt hit her like a punch to the stomach and without realizing it, she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk.

They'd been nothing but good to her, gone out of their way to befriend her years ago despite her relentless anti-social behavior. They'd changed her life, dragged her kicking and screaming out of her shell, taught her what friendship and loyalty were, gave her the self confidence, acceptance and love she'd been denied her entire life. Sabrina and Jill loved her and they were one of the small handful of people in the world that did. They trusted her and she wasn't capable of returning the favor.

Kelly swallowed hard and stared up into the bright sunlight, hoping that it would hide the tears pricking in the corners of her eyes. Suddenly, the past week seemed so meaningless, so foolish and nonsensical.

Why was she hiding this from them? Why had she been fighting tooth and nail to keep this a secret for long? What was the worst that could happen?

The tape, she quickly reminded herself. They could make her turn in the tape.

The thought panicked her and she resumed her walking at a hurried pace.

Ok, she thought to herself. She'd trust them, they deserved that much. She'd tell them about Hanover, explain why this had her so upset, but as for the tape?

No. Not yet. She couldn't stomach that. Not when other evidence could do the job for her. This didn't have to be entirely on her. Sabrina had something with that diary and it was possible either her or Jill could make a break in the case today.

Somewhat comforted, Kelly slowed down and looked around the busy street to get her bearings. At first glance, the scenery seemed foreign to her wandering eyes, until the ice cream parlor on the corner with its bright red door and huge glass window thrust the entire block back into her memory with a jolt.

She was about ten driving minutes from downtown and their hotel, twenty from her old home. That slight recollection was enough to set her bearings back into place. No longer lost, Kelly craned her neck and shielded her eyes with both hands against the glare of the afternoon sun in the hopes that she'd find a cab. It was too far to walk, she decided, and some air condition and rest would be much welcome.

Also, it would give her time to think, to sort out this mess she'd gotten herself into.

A cab stopped to collect her a few minutes later, and as Kelly gratefully climbed inside, she couldn't help but be grudgingly aware that a single ten minute cab ride's worth of thought wasn't going to get anything accomplished.

* * *

"You what?"

Jill's high pitched shriek of disbelief had Sabrina's head tilting away from the phone to protect her sensitive eardrum. "I know, I know." she said quickly to pacify her. "Not how I wanted it to go, but-"

"Where is she?" Jill interrupted anxiously.

Sabrina sighed and irritably rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I don't know, Jill. It wasn't pretty." She cursed and flung her arm out in the direction Kelly had taken. "She took off walking."

"Oh, Bri." Jill groaned. "Now what?"

"I don't know. She might go back to the room."

"Then I'll wait here for her." Jill said quickly. "Maybe I can talk to her, sort everything out?"

Sabrina sighed heavily and let the back of her head thud into the sun heated frame of the phone booth door. "I don't know, Jill." she sighed. "She wasn't exactly in the mood for talking when she left me."

"I can handle her." Jill answered confidently. "When did she leave?"

"About twenty minutes ago." came Sabrina's weary reply. "Hey, the bus is gonna leave me. Listen, if Kelly comes back, try to keep her there. But don't push her too much, huh? I've never seen her like this before, its- it's-" She gave up and breathed a defeated curse. "I don't know. It's just not good. Don't say anything about what I just told you. Hopefully she'll have calmed down a little."

Jill nodded in understanding, though she knew Sabrina couldn't see it. "Alright, Bri." she agreed softly. The bus hissed in the background of Sabrina's line and as expected, she heard her frazzled best friend let loose another curse before giving her a hurried, "Gottagobye" and slamming the phone back into it's receiver.

The line went dead in Jill's ear and with a sad shake of her head, she quietly hung it up.

Dammit, she thought to herself. Even if they'd deliberately tried, this situation couldn't be more twisted and tangled than it already was.

Kelly was hiding something from them. They were hiding something from her. Kelly'd gone behind their backs for reasons unknown and they'd gone behind hers to find out what it was, in the process uncovering part of her past that if she knew Kelly, her guarded friend would want kept secret.

Nobody trusted each other, everyone was squabbling, uptight, and stressed.

Would this ever get fixed?

Jill sighed heavily and slumped down onto her bed. She hadn't even gotten to set down her purse before Sabrina's call. With a loud moan of frustration, she ran a hand through her hair, still sweaty, damp, and unclean feeling from the heat, and rose to her feet. There wasn't time for this.

Ok, she said decisively to herself. A shower to clear her head, then some calls to follow up on Kim's information. And if Kelly came back then she'd deal with her as best she could. If not? Well…

Not wanting to dwell, Jill tossed her purse on the bed, rooted through her suitcase for a suitable change of clothes, and quickly made her way into the bathroom.

* * *

Kelly quietly opened the motel room door, halfway hoping Jill hadn't yet arrived, and slipped inside. A few minutes alone was what she needed right now. Just a few minutes to think.

But a quick look around the room revealed that there was no such luck. Jill's purse and keys were strewn on her bed, as if carelessly tossed on her way in. And that's probably exactly what she had done, Kelly realized, she'd seen it a thousand times before. Even so, Jill didn't seem to be in the room and Kelly was just about to scan a mental list of reasons why she'd leave without her purse, when she noticed the muffled rush of water from behind the closed bathroom door.

Jill was in the shower and that meant at least another ten minutes of being spared any conversation.

Not sure what to do with herself, Kelly turned on the television, tossed her own purse on the floor by her bed and sprawled herself across the comforter, ignoring the lumpy mattress's angry squeak of protest. Her body instantly went numb and for the first time all day, she realized how tired she was. But now wasn't time for sleep.

Instead, she propped herself up against the headboard and settled her gaze on the T.V. in front of her, hoping to clear her head. She found only obnoxious static, and after a few seconds, realized that was probably the only thing scheduled for programming today. Getting up to turn off the television or hoping that it picked up another channel was out of the question though, so she groaned in disgust and let herself flop over onto her side.

The static was loud and annoying, but not nearly enough to distract her from the indecision, guilt, and frustration plaguing her mind. Despite herself, her eyes fell to her suitcase on the floor, the imaginary angle protruding from beneath her clothes a constant reminder to the choice she had to make.

That tape.

Was she doing the right thing? Even if she told Jill and Sabrina about James Hanover, she'd still be lying to them. That tape was still in her hands. That tape that could set the most guilty innocent man she'd ever met free.

A wave of nausea rolled through Kelly's empty stomach and, too anxious to deal with it, she rolled over and faced Jill's bed in attempt to calm her restlessness.

What was she going to do?

Show it to Sabrina and Jill and just get the hell home?

Pretend it didn't exist and possibly damn James Hanover to a life in prison?

One option endangered the future children that would unknowingly be placed in his home, damning them to unspeakable physical, sexual, and psychological abuse, and letting him get away with subjecting his torture to her and others like her.

The other had her playing God, withholding evidence and letting a man spend the rest of his life in jail for a crime he didn't commit. Destroying a marriage, and letting the true killer go unknown.

Either way she was a monster. A monster just like him.

Possible outcomes of either situation tumbled through her tired, overtaxed mind, until she felt as if the fluttering in her chest might cause her to expel what little she'd eaten of her breakfast all over the floor. Kelly groaned and anxiously rubbed her face with both cold, clammy hands.

What was she going to do?

Kelly sighed miserably and let her eyes wander around the room if only for a desperate attempt to somehow distract herself for just a few seconds, to grant herself the briefest instant of peace. And though she wasn't truly expecting to find something in this drab, and quiet hotel room, she found it nonetheless.

Halfway cascading out of Jill's purse on a mess of makeup, candy wrappers, and gun handle, was a black and white photograph.

She'd never seen it before, and the sight of it drew Kelly's eyebrows together in puzzlement. Her eyes flicked nervously to the closed bathroom door where the reassuring rush of water through pipes was still guaranteeing Jill to be occupied.

The tape blessedly pushed to the back of her mind for as long it would take to inspect this find, Kelly pushed herself off of the bed, reached over, and plucked it out of Jill's purse.

It was a black and white photo of a little girl, labeled "12-5- 64". Kelly stared at it for a moment, confused as to it's existence.

This little brunette couldn't be Becky. Or blonde Jill and Kris, or even Sabrina for that matter. Yet there was something about the girl's face, her nervous expression, her unsmiling mouth, that captivated her in an unsettling sort of way that forced her to continue looking instead of dismissively dropping it back to the bed.

Kelly narrowed her eyes at the picture and stared at it. As she did, her eyes widened and a chill she didnt immediately understand began to slowly creep it's way up her spine, raising the hair on her arms and the back of her neck.

And then she had it.

The reason the girl's expression was so hauntingly familiar, the reason the scared child in the photo so unsettled her.

Kelly's stomach gave a violent lurch and with a cry of alarm, she flung the photo away from her as if it's smooth glossy surface had scalded her hand.

It was her. She'd hardly ever seen any childhood photos of herself, but it was her. The girl in the picture was her.

Where? Where had that come from, she wondered frantically. A soft curse slipped from between her lips, followed by another and then another. Her heart was pounding, a film of cold sweat dampening the back of her t-shirt and glistening on her pale face.

Where had that come from and why did Jill have it?

With trembling hands, Kelly gently lifted the picture off of the bed again and stared at it in disbelief.

That was her. Days after her eleventh birthday, after escaping the fire that had burned down her orphanage.

Memories, long forgotten and long buried scraps of times past, resurfaced without warning, twisting and colliding with each other in her head, fighting for dominance. Days long gone took turns flashing randomly and uncontrollably through her mind. She'd been hospitalized after the fire, put in a little white room that smelled like rubbing alcohol, where a few of the girls and the nuns had brought her a slice of birthday cake.

Kelly absently rubbed her shoulder, remembering the deep puncture wound she'd accidentally given herself, the unforgiving heat of the fire, the foul stench of burnt hair and plastic. And there it was in the picture, validation of vague memories that felt like someone else's. The photo was only of her head and shoulders, but there it was. A corner of starch white that had been the sling she'd had to wear for several days to keep from opening the stitches in her shoulder.

Another torrent of memories flood through her. The emotionally draining session of admitting years of horrible abuse at Beemish's hands, having her name pinned to her shirt and being bused over to another orphanage a few days later, still feeling sick and weak from her hospital stay, having her hurt arm jostled and bumped by careless and frightened children, being lined up for what had seemed like forever to have her picture taken, questioned to get as much information as they could about her to replace all that was lost in the fire.

Another startling revelation shook her. She had never seen this picture before. How could Jill have it?

Without thinking, Kelly suddenly tossed the photo down, and tore into Jill's purse. The items inside weren't being dragged out fast enough, so in a fit of anger, she turned it over and violently shook the contents out.

More photos.

Heart hammering in her chest, Kelly grabbed them, eagerly spinning them around in trembling hands to see what they had to reveal. Her breath quickened and her panicked green eyes widened.

"October '65" The day she'd been admitted into the foster care system, sending her to the Dunlaps of Oklahoma and the first of what had turned out to be many failed foster homes.

"January '66" A captured moment of time in between a blur of constant packing, constant moving, a different home each month. She remembered knocking over a stool at this particular photo session and being scolded by the photographer.

"June '66" The day before she'd been sent to live with the Hanovers. Beemish's last day to be the only source of terror and nightmares in her life.

Kelly's chest felt tight, her throat began to close, her breaths came in frantic gasps. There was one more picture.

"March '67" When she'd escaped, damaged and scarred, rail thin and desperate. This had been right before being sent to the detention center, but compared to what she had just escaped, her drab little dorm had seemed like heaven.

As she stood rooted to her spot, the bathroom door swung open, and Kelly, still gripping the photos in her hand and panting loudly, whirled around to face it. Jill emerged, humming softly to herself, unaware she had company. But gone was Kelly's intention of telling her about James Hanover. Gone was the indecision concerning the tape that could set him free. The surge of memories had left her with their respective shock, fear, desperation, and mixed with an overwhelming sense of panic, betrayal and violation, the only emotion she was able to conjure up was anger.

And there was only one target.

"Where did you get these?" she snarled at a horrified looking Jill.

Jill's blue eyes went wide, and her face as white as the towel on her head. "Kell- I-"

"Where Jill?" Kelly shouted angrily, crumpling and then flinging down the handful of photographs. Two made it to the bed, the remainders fluttered to the carpet by Kelly's feet.

"I didn't- I-" Jill stammered pitifully.

In a fit of anger, Kelly slammed her fist into the nightstand, jangling the telephone and sending the lampshade swinging. Jill flinched.

"Why do you have these picture of me, Jill?" she demanded fiercely.

Jill had no answer. Caught off guard, she stammered uselessly and stood paralyzed to her spot.

Face flushed with fury, Kelly stalked over to where her friend was standing and roughly shoved her backwards. Never having being subjected to her friend's rare bouts of aggression, Jill cried out in alarm, and not knowing what Kelly had in mind, flung up an arm to shield herself.

Kelly's fist connected solidly an instant later, slamming into her target so hard her middle knuckle split on contact.

But to Jill's surprise, it wasn't her face that Kelly had been aiming for and the dent in the wall a few feet from her head made her glad of it.

"I don't know what you're doing." Kelly seethed through clenched teeth, raising a finger to Jill's face that had her flinching away. "I don't know- but stop. Stop this now, Jill."

"Kelly-" Jill whimpered pitifully. "Look- I - we didn't mea-"

But Kelly had nothing to hear.

"Just stop." she repeated threateningly. "Now."

With that, she turned, leaving Jill cowering in the bathroom doorframe, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard behind her that the walls shook.

Jill stared at the closed door, still in shock, still trying to process what had just happened for a few moments until her heart rate slowed enough for her to swallow and take a deep, shaky breath. Her hands shook and her legs trembled, but she forced herself to remain standing.

Her and Sabrina had really screwed up.

Sensing precious time was slipping away, she swallowed and stepped forward, intending to go after Kelly, but steps toward the door, she suddenly stopped.

Going after her might be a worse idea than raiding through her childhood files had been.

She breathed a curse and ran a shaky hand through her wet hair. What could she do? How could she fix this? How could she tell Sabrina they might have lost their best friend forever?

Heart still pounding with adrenaline, she swept aside some clutter from her purse and slowly sank down onto the bed to calm herself. As she did, she became aware of something stuck to the bottom of her foot and quickly shook it off, feeling oncoming tears of guilt and shame tighten her chest and burn the back of her throat.

The crumpled photo of an eleven year old Kelly resettled itself a few inches away, partway hidden by the worn bed skirt hanging down from where she was sitting. Her eyes found it but immediately jerked away, though through the blurred curtain of hot tears, she couldn't know exactly which picture it had been.

But it didn't matter, she didn't have to see it. That picture and her stupid decision to take it might have cost her Kelly's friendship.

Jill wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and tried to swallow away the rolling feeling of nausea in her stomach.

This had just gotten worse. Much, much worse than she'd thought possible.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Jill was right on track.

Right on track to uncovering what she'd been trying so hard to hide.

How had she gotten those pictures, Kelly's brain wondered frantically. Pictures taken by various workers in the foster care system. Pictures taken ten years ago, in another lifetime, someone else's past, long before she'd even met them.

How?

Fresh panic fluttered in her chest and though she'd been heading for the bus stop, suddenly she could no longer sit down and wait for a bus. Ignoring the strange looks her erratic behavior was earning her from the two middle aged women sitting on the bench, Kelly shuffled her feet indecisively, and then broke into a sporadic run.

Answers were what she wanted, what her brain was frantically racing to make sense of as she sprinted down the block, but the instant she had it, she wished she'd never had. As bad as this was now, answers would only make it unfathomably worse.

Because, there was only one way Jill had those pictures, she realized, horror spreading its way through her, tightening her throat and chest, suffocating her as she ran, goading her faster and faster along the sidewalk.

The foster agency.

That was the only way. Surely, files had been kept. Hers would be here, it had only been ten years since she'd left, not so very long. Angencies archived that kind of the information, archived old pictures in a big manila file folder that she'd seen countless coffee breathed, weary-eyed social workers slap on the desk in front of them when they met her for the first time.

And the pictures wouldn't be stand alone items in her records.

The cold grip of dread suddenly squeezed at her heart, forcing her to a stumbling, panting halt.

Jill, most likely Sabrina as well, had to have gone through her records. How could they not, with it right there in front of them, offering up more than she herself ever would? All the information would have been there. Everything. From the fire to the Hanovers, it would have all been there for them to read, screaming out all her childhood secrets from their neatly typed pages.

James and Candace Hanover were part of those records, and they had to know by now.

A sick wave of nausea doubled Kelly over and send her tripping and scrambling for the privacy of a littered and shadowy alleyway.

She stood panting, her hands on her knees, her rolling stomach spouting empty threats at her, making her glad she'd denied it ammunition by skipping lunch. The false alarm over, Kelly stared quietly at the squashed paper cup she had almost been sick on, and tried to slow her racing heart.

They knew about James Hanover.

Humiliation burned her cheeks and neck, as the full reality of the situation began to take hold.

Would they ask her about it? Demand answers? Ask him? Tell Charlie? Get them pulled off of the case because of her?

No, Kelly decided firmly, forcing herself upright. She was getting worked up over nothing. She didn't have to reveal anything to them that she didn't want to. They could ask all they wanted, but nothing would force her to relive the events of her childhood anymore than she already was.

She had to get out of here. Back to L.A.. Her things were back at the hotel, but that didn't matter. She couldn't see them, couldn't face them. Not now.

But it did matter, she realized with a gut wrenching shock.

The tape. The tape was in there, and she couldn't just leave it.

Kelly stopped abruptly and let a strangled cry of frustration slip from between her lips.

That tape was the cause of so much anxiety, so much guilt, so much pain. She couldn't leave it.

What else could she do with it? Leave it for Sabrina and Jill? Destroy it?

No.

She'd done so many horrible things already. She'd lied to, avoided, decieved, and worst of all attacked her friends. Leaving Sabrina and Jill on a wild goose without the evidence they needed to come home was too much, even for her.

With that decision, she also damned herself to something else.

Kelly groaned and clenched her jaw to stifle the intense feeling of nausea that hit her like a kick to the gut. As wrong as it felt, as much as it churned her stomach, betrayed her childhood self, denied her the satisifaction of well deserved revenge, there was only one thing she had to do.

Kelly swallowed hard and despite the heavy air of doom weighing down on her shoulders, took a deep, calming breath. She'd turn it in herself and just be done with it. Give it to an officer and walk right back out. Then she could leave, go home to California, back to her warm house with all of its fond memories, wait until all this blew over. Turn it in and leave Nevada and the Hanovers behind forever.

Set him free to live out the rest of his life in undeserved peace.

A switch flipped off in Kelly's head at the thought, igniting old but powerful feelings of rage, vengeance, and hate.

If she was running home to L.A., defeated, with her tail between her legs, then there was something she had to do first.

Kelly's mouth set itself into a firm line.

Maybe she wasn't thinking straight. Maybe this tape, this entire case, had made her crazy. Maybe she'd always been crazy. But, he had to know. He had to know that his future laid in her hands, that he'd not fooled everyone with his lies, that his imprisonment wasn't entirely unwarranted, that his secret wasn't as secret as he thought.

And maybe, just maybe, that would be enough. Maybe that would bring the closure she'd been denied, stop the nightmares, and set her soul at ease.

Kelly stopped and anxiously ran her hands through her hair.

First, she needed that tape.

She couldn't go back now, though. Jill was still there, and right now, though her friend deserved a groveling apology for her violence, right now she couldn't face her.

She'd wait.

Wait until the room was empty, then sneak in, leave a note, and take her things. Kelly's mind raced frantically, desperately spinning out a way to escape Nevada undetected. What she'd been forgetting this entire week was that her best friends were detectives, capable of tracking her, figuring out her next move and gleaning information from all possible sources without her knowledge.

But so was she.

And if she knew Sabrina and Jill, they'd both be upset and concerned about what happened. How long they had known the truth about Hanover and kept it from her, she didnt know, but the incident with Jill would guarantee that they'd come looking for her. They'd search awhile, then eventually return to the room empty handed to regroup. While they were gone, it would be easy to slip inside, gather her things, and leave them a note. She owed them that much at least.

They'd find the note and that would be it. She'd fly back, lay low, see them later this week and try to explain. Explain why she'd done all the horrible things she'd done, explain why she'd gone to such astronomical lengths to hide a dark, dirty secret.

And then leave it up to them whether or not to understand.

Kelly swallowed hard and steeled herself for the very real chance that she wouldn't have friends by the time her plane touched down at LAX later today.

But then, she thought bitterly to herself, that was exactly what she deserved, wasn't it?

* * *

Exhaling a steady stream of curses, Sabrina plowed through the unlocked motel room door, sending it slamming into the inside wall.

A shrill yelp to her immediate left had her head whipping toward its source. Jill was crouched beside the bed, looking anxious and upset, strings of her damp blonde hair poking out of the white towel it was still messily wrapped in.

"Oh, Sabrina!" Jill cried, her hand over her heart, eyes wide in panic. "You scared me!"

Sabrina, realizing in her agitated state, she was acting like more like Kelly than her usual self, ran a hand through her hair and forced herself to calm down.

"Sorry." she said shortly. "So what happened, Jill?"

Jill sighed and slumped down onto Kelly's bed. "I-I screwed up, Bri." she mumbled wearily.

"You what? How?"

Jill fixed her gaze on the floor in front of her, where two of the photos were still peeking out from beneath the worn bed skirt. "Remember when we went to the adoption agency and looked up Kelly's stuff?" she asked quietly. "And we saw her pictures from when she was a kid?"

Sabrina huffed her impatience at what she percieved to be Jill changing the subject.

"You mean yesterday? Yes, Jill, I remember yesterday." she snapped.

"Well, I kept the pictures." came Jill's soft, shame filled clarification.

Sabrina's face registered confusion, and then paled as her nimble brain slowly arrived at a horrible conclusion. "You what?" she said slowly.

"I kept the pictures."

"No, no I heard you- I just- You kept the pictures? What?"

With a loud curse, Jill swooped down, snatched up the two photos on the floor and angrily smoothed them out on the rumpled bedspread.

"I kept them! I kept them all! I'm sorry, I- It just didn't feel right leaving them, you know? They don't care about her, no one cared about her! And- and we do, so why should they sit and rot in a-"

"Jill!" Sabrina cried, recovering from her shock and confusion. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know!" Jill yelled back shrilly.

"And she saw them! Oh my God, she saw them didnt she?"

Jill groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Yes! She saw them!" She emitted a pained sob, flung the photos away from her, and turned her body away from Sabrina.

Sabrina watched her, shoulders still heaving, heart still hammering up into her throat. If there was ever something she didnt want Kelly to find out, this was it. No wonder she'd flipped. She breathed a curse and looked back at Jill. Jill hadn't looked her in the eye even once since she'd arrived and she looked so upset and guilty that Sabrina softened. Kelly had already punished her it seemed. No sense in kicking her while she was down. Sighing to herself, she quietly approached her friend and sat down next to her.

"Jill?" she called, careful to keep her tone neutral. "What did you tell her?"

Jill took a shuddering sigh and, with her face still buried in her hands and facing away from Sabrina, gave a quick shrug.

"I didn't tell her anything." she muttered. "She didn't let me."

Sabrina raised an eyebrow. "Didn't let you?"

"Didn't let me!" Jill snapped, suddenly whirling on her best friend. "She went crazy! She yelled at me, punched a hole in the wall and stormed out of here!" She shoved herself off of the bed and away from Sabrina. "So no, Bri! I didn't get to tell her anything!"

Sabrina absorbd her friend's outburst silently, slowly procesing the situation in its entirety. She shook her head and let her eyes roam around the room until they found the fist shaped dent in question next to the bathroom door. Classic Kelly, she thought to herself with a sigh. Her friend rarely let her temper control her like this, but when she did, it went off like a bomb, unexpected and unavoidable. She got up, crossed the room and absently scratched at the exposed sheetrock of the dent Kelly had made, leaving the tip of her finger and nail white with the chalky powder.

"Yeah, I know." Jill snapped again, taking notice of Sabrina's focus. "I thought my face was gonna be the thing she caved in."

Sabrina turned, features contorted in confusion. "She took a swing at you?" she blurted out in disbelief. Hitting walls was one thing, Kelly didn't know another way to channel her aggression. But Kelly getting violent with someone she loved? Sabrina stared mutely at the cracked sheetrock of the wall, guilt and shame washing over her. They'd all handled this so very badly. How far had they pushed her?

"No, I said she shoved me." Jill clarified with a weary sigh. She bit her lip and lowered her eyes. "I really thought for a second she would, though. I kind of deserve it. We both do."

Sabrina pursed her lips and again brushed at the dented surface of the wall, sending bits of plaster dust floating lazily to the floor below. "Well-" she started slowly. "We need to make this right."

"How?" came Jill's heated response.

Sabrina shrugged her slim shoulders. "I'm not sure. But I would say the first step would be finding Kelly."

* * *

Kelly watched, concealed between a rusty weed covered chain link fence and a beat up old Chevy van, as her two friends hurriedly piled into a taxi cab and rolled out of the dusty parking lot. Probably looking for her, she reasoned, with a slight touch of guilt.

But she'd expected that much, hadn't she? That had been the reason she came in the first place. To stay a step ahead.

Steeling herself, Kelly waited a few minutes longer before she felt safe enough to creep out of her hiding place and jog up to the motel room door. Her purse had been forgotten inside earlier, and Kelly muttered curses under her breath, realizing she would have to pick the lock to get inside. She sighed, pulled the familiar slender metal tool from her back pocket and did so quickly, confident that no one would care enough to report her and hardly caring if someone did.

She'd just be in and out. Get in. Grab her stuff. Grab the tape. Get out.

The lock finally clicked free and Kelly gratefully pushed the door open. Though she'd just seen her two friends leave not five minutes ago, she still stood cautiously in the doorway, silently scanning the room for any sign of life. Predictably, there was none and Kelly stepped inside and quietly shut the door behind her.

She gathered her things quickly, being careful not to look at the dented section of wall by the bathroom door. Just the thought of it replayed, over and over, without permission, her last encounter with Jill and the recollection made her stomach turn and a shamed flush burn its way up her cheeks.

But as sick as she felt, what was done was done and couldnt be undone.

Nausea, for once, quickened her pace and within a scant few minutes, she had tossed her suitcase, purse, and duffel bag against the door and was busily scribbling out a note to Sabrina and Jill on a piece of stationary left in the nightstand drawer.

Her note was short and to the point. She finished, and too sick to even stop to reread it, slammed her pencil down, snatched up her things and flew out the door.

Soon this would all be over, she told herself as she jogged back toward the bus stop she'd gotten so familiar with the past few days. Soon she'd be back home in Los Angeles, in her own house, in her own room, safely in the life she had now.

Her jaw set itself in determination as she walked, and she absently clutched her duffel bag, where she'd slipped the tape, closer to herself, as if by being unable to feel the corner of the tape poking her in the ribs, she'd somehow lose it. Yes, she wanted to turn it in and go home.

But before she could, there was one more thing she had to do. One more person she had to set things straight with.


	24. Chapter 24

_**Two chapters in the same month? What?**_

* * *

Chapter 24

"So, uh, what's your name?" Jill asked, with a forced good natured tone.

The cabbie's unfortunately familiar face met her gaze in the rearview mirror with a narrow eyed look of contempt. "Earl." he gruffed.

"Well, Earl-" Jill sang, deliberately drawing his name out as long as possible. "-I feel like we know each other. I'm Jill. This is Sabrina."

Earl rolled his eyes, indicating just how much he cared what his two fares were named. "We've been driving for twenty minutes." he sighed, rubbing at his scratchy chin. "You still haven't told me where I'm supposed to take you."

Sabrina smiled tolerantly. "We're just looking for someone, alright? Keep driving around, you're doing real good."

"Meters still running."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Sabrina answered calmly.

Earl grumbled something under his breath as the cab stopped at yet another red light. Jill had already broken the awkward silence twice and sitting here waiting for her to do it again was starting to get maddening. "Let me guess. Her again? Why are you two following that girl?" he chanced, curiousity getting the better of him. "I'm not helping nobody get hurt, am I?"

The two girls in the backseat shared a glance and then looked away.

Earl was a perceptive man, a people person, an unwilling witness to countless conversations and scenarios that took place between the passengers of his taxi and their dark look didnt go unseen. There was an air of unpleasantness between them that was noticeable even over the usual musk of his cab and Earl shook his head.

"She owe you money or something?" he guessed, after a beat of silence.

Sabrina sighed and busied herself looking out the window. "I think we might owe her something."

"If we can find her." Jill added darkly.

Earl rolled his eyes. "Oh, vagueness. I get it. None of my business." he grumped.

His passengers answered him with faint, joyless, smiles. Oh well, he thought to himself. Not his problem. They didn't look capable of hurting anyone and at least this time they were still, instead of climbing all over him obnoxiously. He studied them in the rearview mirror as the light changed, for the first time noting that both girls were young and very pretty.

When they were quiet, at least.

"Hey, Earl? You mind running through downtown again?" Jill asked brightly, speaking up after a brief, whispered council with Sabrina.

Earl grunted his assent and obligingly turned left and back towards the heart of the city. With both passengers strangely silent, the cab wandered through the busy streets for an additional twenty minutes, the atmostsphere getting steadily more depressed, before Sabrina finally heaved a defeated sigh.

"Ok Earl, I think we've taken up enough of your time." she said wearily, leaning into the front seat. "Sorry. Can you take us back to our motel room? I think we just-"

Since the brunette's voice was the first thing in the cab to break the monotous silence for nearly half an hour, Earl had looked up the moment Sabrina opened her mouth. But to his surprise, before she could finish her sentence, the blonde next to her suddenly sprang from her spot with a strangled cry and unexpectedly tackled her to the seat.

"Jill! What the hell-!"

"Get down!"

Earl, eyes wide, stared in disbelief at the two women wrestling in his backseat, completely unaware of what was going on, but liking it all the same. Using his knees to hold the wheel in place, he frantically grappled at the rearview mirror until the angle of the reflection showed the two girls in the back.

"What is the matter wit-Get off!"

"No! Get down! Shutup!"

"Ow, Jill!"

Earl blew through a stop sign.

"Shh! It's Kelly, I see her!"

"Your gonna break my rib-What?"

"She just walke-Ow! I'm sorry! She just walked by!" Jill hissed.

"What?"

"Just stay down! She'll see us!"

Sabrina tried to sit up, but Jill forcibly shoved her shoulders back down. "She's right there! I said stay down!"

"Are you crazy? Get off me! I want to make sure!"

"I know Kelly when I see her!"

"I want to make sure! And get your knee out of my- I can't breathe!"

"I'm trying! You keep squirming and I can't move m-

Jill's complaining was cut off by two shrieks of surprise as Earl suddenly slammed on the brakes, sending the cab into a squealing halt, pitching both girls forward and hurling them into the back of the front seat with a hollow thud and two grunts of pain.

"Sorry! Sorry, ladies!" Earl gasped, hurriedly swerving around the red faced and angry businessman he'd almost run over.

Jill and Sabrina, both dazed and neither with a clue as to what had happened, found themselves heaped together, squashed into the dirty floor of a cab.

"Oh, I think my spine is broken." Jill whined, as she tried to untangle herself from Sabrina.

"Jill-" Sabrina panted. "For the last time. Get off of me!"

Finally with the leverage she needed, Sabrina heaved Jill off of her and clambered back into her seat, panting and smoothing out her rumpled shirt. Jill unhooked her foot from under the seat and climbed up after her a second later, immediately leaning over her friend to stare out the window again.

"Will you get away?" Sabrina grumped, shoving her back. With no sign of Kelly anymore, Jill sighed in frustration and jumped up on her knees to stare out the rear window.

"Is she there?" Sabrina asked irritably.

"Um, you girls alright?" Earl chanced, his face pale and sweaty.

Sabrina tore her attention away from Jill. "Yeah, just great." she sighed. "What happened? Someone almost hit us?

Earl was silent for a moment before reaching up and readjusting his rearview mirror.

"Yeah. Almost."

Sabrina scoffed. "And here I am thinking that all the bad drivers live in L.A."

"I don't see her anymore!" Jill interrupted, still pressed against the window.

Sabrina rolled her eyes and turned toward her. "Are you sure you saw her at all?" She pointed toward a brunette lounging against the side of a building, calmly enjoying a cigarette. The woman was of similar height and build as Kelly, had long, brown, shoulder-length hair, and was in also in a pair of khaki slacks. "I saw her too."

Jill made a face. "No!" she cried. "I know I saw her! And besides, Kelly doesn't smoke cigarettes."

"Well, I don't see her." Sabrina answered, moodily flopping back in her seat. " I think you just got someone else confuse- " Her brown eyes lit up and she abruptly shot forward in her seat, abandoning her previous train of thought.

"There she is! There she is! Look!"

Forgetting the past few minutes, Sabrina reached over and excitedly yanked Jill to her window, nearly smashing her face against it. "There! She's right there! Getting on that bus! Do you see?"

"Yes! I told you!" Jill practically screamed back. "She's on that bus! Why is she on that bus?" Her blue eyes, glittering with excitement, flitted toward the rear view mirror, that Earl had just hurriedly angled towards them once more. "Where does that bus go, Earl?"

Earl shrugged. "The 515? That one will take her out of the city."

"Towards the airport?" Jill asked quickly.

"No. Airport is the other way."

Jill turned to Sabrina. "Where is she going? What's that way? The prison is that way. You think she'd go there?"

Sabrina shrugged and, realizing she still had Jill in a death grip, released her. "I don't know. I don't know anything she'd do anymore."

"Worth a shot?" Jill asked hopefully.

In response, Sabrina climbed up between the two front seats and urgently slapped at Earl's shoulder. "Hey- Hey Earl-" she started breathlessly.

Earl sighed wearily. "Yeah, yeah. I know. Follow that bus."

Grumbling to himself, he reached up and once again readjusted his mirror.

* * *

By the time, Kelly had walked up to the entrance of the men's facility where James Hanover was awaiting his trial, the anxiety, the butterflies, and the second guessing had long since vanished. Replacing all of her insecure feelings was a strange mixture of determination, reckless abandon, and what almost felt like anger. Whether or not this was a good idea was no longer an issue.

Kelly bounded up the stone staircase and urgently flung open the glass entrance to the main office, earning some confused glances from other visitors and the officers milling about inside. This was going to happen and she found she was no longer afraid. Instead, she was impatient, almost eager to meet him. She'd get it over with, leave the tape, and put this place behind her forever.

"Can I help you, Detective Garrett?"

Kelly turned, unaccustomed to the formal greeting, and met the narrowed eyed gaze of an officer she'd met during her last visit. He hadn't seemed in a hurry to help James Hanover then, and if she had to guess, his stance on the man's guilt hadn't changed now. Like most officers here, this steely eyed young man didn't agree with what her, Sabrina and Jill were trying to do and it was more than obvious that her presence wasn't exactly appreciated. Kelly forced a smile on her face and regarded the young man carefully. He didn't like her, she could tell, had always been able to tell. But she'd had plenty of practice dealing with that and from his tone and demeanor, he was a professional and wouldn't let personal opinions affect his job. No, he didn't like her, but he'd help, she decided.

"Yes, I need to talk to James Hanover." she said politely, forcing the smile on her face to broaden. "Just got a few things I need help clearing up and he's the only one that can help."

The officer nodded slowly. "I think that can be arranged, ma'am." he answered, spinning on his heels. "I'll take you to the phones."

"Uh-actually-" Kelly called at his back, forcing him to stop and turn around. "This is...kind of private. Can I use one of your interrogation rooms?" She watched, realizing the request would be an inconvienence. She tilted her head and smiled sweeetly, wishing she didn't have the dark circles under her eyes or sweat dampening her brow. She reached up and flipped her hair off of her shoulder anyway, hoping it would help. "It'll only be a few minutes."

The officer sighed wearily and stared at her for a moment before licking his lips and nodding, his frustration more than evident. He reached up and toyed with his hat as he spoke, refusing to make eye contact.

"Let me see what I can do."

"Oh, thanks so much." Kelly responded in her sugary sweet tone. For good measure, she flipped her hair again.

The young officer suddenly looked confused. "Do you need something for your hand while you wait?" he asked, one eyebrow raised in surprise .

"My hand?" Kelly echoed in confusion. Her gaze lowered to her right hand and, realizing with a start that her knuckles were bruised and bleeding, she gasped and hurriedly shoved it into her pocket. The rivet of her jeans scraped against the split knuckles as she did, stinging horribly, but she forced a smile. "Oh, no. Had a little fall. It's fine."

"Uh huh." the young man replied doubtfully. "You can wait here while I go see about that room. If you need some ice or something, just ask anyone around here."

With that he turned and walked away, leaving Kelly to wander over to a bench in the corner and set down her purse. She was too wound up to sit, however, and chose instead to pass the twenty minutes the officer was gone by pacing restlessly across the length of the short bench and slowly becoming more and more aware of how much her hand actually hurt. Finally, a stout, older man approached her, flanked by a fresh faced rookie, his uniform and demeanor revealing him as a higher up, maybe a sergeant or a captain. Kelly straightened, hid her injured hand behind her back, and waited.

"Miss Garrett?" he called in a gruff, no nonsense voice.

Kelly nodded.

"You have fifteen minutes with him. Follow Officer Harkins, he'll lead you to the room."

"Thanks so much." Kelly responded politely. The older man ignored her, and with a stern nod of his head to the rookie, turned and ambled away. The rookie, still at attention, watched him go, before turning back to Kelly, attempting to recreate the stone faced expression his superior had been giving her.

"This way, Miss." he said shortly. He took Kelly's elbow and, though his touch aggravated her, she let him lead her away from the office, through a set of locked doors, and into the familiar hallway she'd been in earlier that week. They passed several doors before the rookie stopped, peeked through the window, and began to fumble with the ring of keys clipped to his pants. "Uh-you have fifteen minutes, Miss." he said quickly, as he unlocked the door. He opened it carefully, let Kelly in and followed her inside. Hanover was already seated at the table and though the sight of him had her heart in her throat, Kelly turned her back, ignored all of the old, unpleasantly familiar feelings being in his presence gave her, and refused to give him her attention just yet. Just a few seconds. That's all she needed.

"I'll give you a five minute warning, alright?"

Kelly turned, unaware that the rookie decided to be in the room with her. That was unacceptable.

"You're staying in here?" she asked. "Do you have to?"

The officer nodded. "For your safety."

Kelly sighed wearily. It wouldn't do to have him in here. She studied him for a moment and then smiled, a plan of action coming to mind. The young man's speech pinpointed his birthplace as somewhere in the South, and that was something they had in common. "Listen- what's your name?" she started, relaxing her speech and allowing her accent to slip through.

"Officer Har-"

"Your first name."

The young man looked bewildered. "Uh- Henry-" he stammered, caught off guard. "Hank to my friends."

"Hank." Kelly repeated, as if trying it out and, then, as if it pleased her, she smiled. "I like that. Hank, listen. I just need a few minutes alone with my client. I know you're trying to make your mama proud and you're doing a good job here, but I just need a few minutes." As Hank watched in confusion, Kelly dipped her uninjured hand into her purse, flipped open her wallet and pulled out a crisp twenty dollar bill. "I can tell you're a rookie." Kelly continued. "Hey, I've been there myself. Los Angeles P.D. and I don't think you get paid much more than I did back then. Am I right?"

Hank looked torn between being stunned and amused. But he smiled faintly. "Yes, ma'am." he answered honestly.

"You got a girl, Hank?"

Hank blushed and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Back in Mississippi, yeah." he answered.

"Planning a visit soon?"

"Next week for the Fourth."

Kelly smiled, pulled another twenty from her wallet, and held it out to the young man. "Lucky girl. Well, when you see her, treat her to a nice evening, huh? On me?"

The young man stared at the money in Kelly's hand for a few seconds before sighing and accepting it, looking around nervously as he did. "Ok, but-but you still only get fifteen minutes. I'll wait down the hall and come get you when it's time. And- and you can't tell the sergeant."

Kelly grinned. "Our little secret."

Hank returned the grin and quickly stuffed the two bills in his back pocket. "Thanks." he said brightly. "See you in a few. Holler if you need me." He tipped his hat and slipped outside, leaving Kelly alone in a room with James Hanover for the first time in over ten years. This time it wasn't a nightmare, though. This time it was for real.

Still steeling herself to turn around and actually face him, Kelly listened at the door, taking deep, calming breaths and waited until Hank's footsteps had retreated down the hallway and stopped. She would have taken a few seconds more to ready herself, but a man cleared his throat, shattering her concentration and interrupting the mental pep talk she was busily giving herself.

"Am I just going to sit here and stare at your back?"

Kelly turned around. She hadn't been quite ready a split second ago, but found that no longer mattered. Her gaze found Hanover, looking tired and confused, a half smile turning up one corner of his mouth. As before, he was dressed in light blue prison garb, his hands shackled in front of him, his face bristled by a few more days growth of gray beard.

"Oh, it gets better. I can stare at your face now." he quipped. "Were you afraid I'd get lonely in here, or do you have a status update for me, Ms. Townsend?"

"Garrett." Kelly blurted out immediately and without thinking.

Hanover smiled. "Sorry. Ms. Garrett." he said smoothly, either ignoring or oblivious to the hostility in her voice. "I'm real bad with names. So what do you have for me?"

Kelly couldn't answer. She started to sweat and swallowed hard, finding herself unable to speak. Without acknowledging his question, she turned back to the narrow, rectangular window on the heavy door. No one was there. Officer Hank was safely down the hall. No one was there. No witnesses.

No one but them.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Hanover laughed uncertainly. "Hello?" he called, waving his shackled hands back and forth to get Kelly's attention. "You gonna stand there all day, sweetheart?"

Kelly stared at him, absently smoothing her hair out of her face with her injured hand, a nervous tic to busy herself while she tried to think of a way to begin this long overdue conversation. She'd been a lanky, baby-faced thirteen when she'd run out his door for the last time, in what seemed like another life, putting the Hanovers behind her and escaping to a better life. Or so her naive child's mind had thought. After being picked up and placed in the juvenile detention center, she'd refused to speak about him, becoming hostile and uncooperative toward anyone who made her try. There'd been a brief period where his face wasn't even allowed in her thoughts, only creeping in uninvited during the constant nightmares that plagued her whenever sleep lowered her defenses. But the shock and the trauma eventually faded and in the years that followed, as she grew older, she'd lain awake many a night, wondering what she would do, what she would say to him, Beemish, any of them, if she ever saw them again. It was one thing lying safe in bed, years after the fact, pretending that she'd be brave, that she'd get even, tell them off if only she'd get the chance. But she knew deep down that it wasn't true. The fantasies were only just that. Just the angry little girl inside of her trying to save face, fight back now when she couldn't then. Because truthfully, these night time conversations terrified her, were ones she'd hoped never to have. But now it was reality and this particular one was ten years in the making. It had to be right.

"Hey, what happened to your hand?" Hanover blurted out, eyeing the blood dripping her from split knuckle. "You're bleeding, you know. You should get that cleaned up."

"Why?" Kelly spoke up finally. She looked disinterestedly at the swollen and bruised skin of her right hand and wiped it on the hip of her jeans. "We both know a little blood doesn't bother you."

She caught him off guard, but Hanover merely laughed off his shock at her comment. "Was that supposed to be a joke?" he asked incredulously.

Kelly didn't answer him for a moment, instead choosing to continue staring intently at his face. "You don't recognize me, do you?" she said softly

Hanover raised an eyebrow. "Recognize you?-" he echoed. "Well, yeah. You and the other two were here the other d-"

"From before that." Kelly interrupted heatedly. "Way before." With Hanover watching her curiously, she crossed the room in three easy strides and pulled a chair out, purposely scraping it as loudly as she could on the tiled floor before casually taking a seat. Seconds ago, she'd had nothing planned, not what to say or do. She'd been scared, anxious, and upset, caught up in the swirl of horrible memories that had been stirred up since seeing his wife in her office. Now it was all gone. Now she was someone else and words were spilling out of her mouth without any idea where they were coming from and her body acting without direction.

Hanover furrowed his brows in confusion. "I-I'm not following."

"I can see that." Kelly said shortly. She pushed away from the table, bent down and pulled the duffel bag she'd brought with her from her purse. Hanover watched her with interest, his increasing confusion and uneasiness more than obvious on his face.

"I have something in here that I think will interest you." Kelly started slowly. She unzipped the bag, but instead of reaching in and pulling out its mysterious contents, paused thoughtfully for a moment before zipping it closed again and leaning back in her chair. Her sudden change of heart had Hanover's brows knitted in confusion.

"This is a little ironic you know." she said conversationally. "But I don't think you can fully appreciate that because you don't know what's in this bag and you don't remember who I am."

Hanover's confusion turned into a look of extreme discomfort. There was a fierce intensity behind this girl's lighthearted front that was unsettling him. "Remember you?" he repeated lamely. 'I'm sorry- I- I don't remember you-"

"I remember you."

"Then can you help me out?" Hanover laughed uneasily. "I've got nothing. And I'm pretty sure I would have remembered your face."

Kelly smiled, a thin, fake smile to keep from lashing out at him, and leaned forward. "Well, I didn't look like this." she started. "I was a few years younger."

"Were you?" Hanover asked. "Well, you can't be more than twenty four or twenty five." Kelly could almost see the gears turning frantically in his head, desperately trying to place an adult face that he couldn't possibly know. She decided to give him as much time as he needed. There was no hurry.

"Look, I don't remember." Hanover sighed irritably after a few awkward seconds. "So quit playing games with me and just tell me, sweetheart."

"Ma'am." Kelly shot back.

"What?"

"Ma'am. Just tell me, ma'am. Not sweetheart."

Hanover blinked in surprise at Kelly's blatant rudeness. "Excuse me?" he stammered.

"That's not how you talk to me." Kelly replied, her voice soft and silky. "You address me as ma'am. Not sweetheart. I'm in charge here. Don't you forget that." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Now get that look off of your face, you look stupid."

If James Hanover was feeling anything at that moment, his expression wasn't giving it away. His face remained blank. But he was thinking. Thinking hard. Kelly stared into his black eyes. Recollection would come soon enough, she was sure of it. He just needed a little push. Just a little push. And she'd be more than happy to give it to him.

"Oh c'mon. You can't be that bad with names." she taunted him in disgust. "Think back. Think back real hard. It was 1966."

"1966?" Hanover echoed angrily. "Ten years ago? How in the hell am I supposed to remember who I met in 1966? Christ, you must have been just a kid in-"

His words abruptly cut off, seemingly sucked back into his throat by a sharp gasp. His eyes widened and his face blanched into the sickly looking color of chalky paste.

Kelly smiled triumphantly. "Ah! There you go. You remember me." she said quietly. "How funny. I never forgot you."

It took several moments and four false starts before Hanover was able to get legible words past his tongue, but Kelly was patient. It felt good having the upper hand, and though it was sickening, she could understand why he bullied her to get that euphoric sensation of power. Now it was her turn. And she wasn't about to waste a single second of it.

"Oh my God." Hanover uttered, burying his face in his hands. "Oh my God. Kelly. How-?"

"How what?" Kelly asked quietly. "How did I get here? How did you not recognize me? What?"

Hanover shook his head and stared at the young woman in front of him, his face registering complete disbelief. "I - I just- my God-" he sputtered.

Kelly pushed herself away from the table and rose to her feet. "Now, Mr. Hanover-" she started, drifting around behind him. She paused and covered her mouth with one hand. "Or should I call you Dad?" she corrected herself innocently. The big man looked so taken aback by that, it made Kelly laugh.

"No, you're right. I really don't like saying your name, but Dad would sound funny." she said thoughtfully, tapping her chin in over exaggerated concentration. "Besides you weren't very good at it." She suddenly paused and snapped her fingers, as if struck by an ephiphany. "Wait- I can call you Jim, can't I? We're both adults now, aren't we?"

Hanover looked physically ill. He cleared his throat and bravely tried to keep up his end of the conversation. "Sure. Call me Jim." he answered in a choked whisper.

"Good." Kelly replied with a smile. She sat down across from him and drummed her fingers impatiently on the table. "Well?" she said, looking up at him. "Nothing to say?"

Hanover looked up briefly and immediately looked away. "Uh- You grew up."

"I did." Kelly replied quietly. "Kids do that."

"My- my wife?" Hanover whispered. "She didn't-?

Kelly shook her head. "Recognize me?" she finished for him. "No. No she didn't. She doesn't know."

Hanover nodded weakly and let out a shaky breath. "How've you been?" he asked awkwardly.

The random question genuinely made Kelly laugh out loud in disdain. "How've you been? Really?" she echoed incredulously. "You never cared how I was then, why should you now?"

"Look." Hanover said wearily. "Why are you here? Just to tell me that?"

"Oh no, I had a reason."

"Then what is it? Your friends aren't here. Are you going to tell me you've been sabotaging their investigation because you think I deserve to be in jail?"

Kelly raised an eyebrow. "I _think _you deserve to be in jail?" she repeated. "_Think_ isn't the right word, Jim. You do belong here. I _think_ you know that."

Hanover glared at her. "So you feel you're entitled to some revenge, is that it?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kelly shot back, his comment suddenly enraging her. "Do I have to remind you of how it was? How neither of you bothered to even try being parents? How I was always left alone to take care of myself? How you made me spend Thanksgiving in a closet?"

"Look-" Hanover tried to cut in. But Kelly wasn't about to stop.

"No, you're right." she continued, raising her voice over his. "That's a sad story and all but it isn't illegal, is it? Let's talk about how you used to beat me so badly I couldn't go to school for a week. Or what about that time you dislocated my shoulder? Or how about all those times when you snuck into my room at night when your wife was asleep."

Hanover started to sweat. "I don't know what you're talking about."he blurted out quickly.

Kelly scoffed derisively at him. "Oh please." she snapped. "You think I wasn't old enough to know what you were doing? Did you think I was that stupid?" She barked a short laugh. "So you tell me if you _think _you deserve to be in jail. Isn't this where criminals belong?"

Hanover straightened and crossed his arms over his chest in a pathetic attempt to look like he hadn't been shaken. "It's been ten years. You can't prove anything. It would be your word against mine."

Kelly burst into laughter. "Look around, Jim! In case you haven't realized, that's a prison uniform you've got on there! And I used to wear a police uniform. Who's word are they going to believe?"

Hanover deflated. "W-What?"

Kelly smiled. "I used to be a cop." she explained. "Does that surprise you?" She took his silence as an affirmation and her grin widened. "But don't worry, I'm not a cop anymore. And anyway, that doesn't matter right now."

"Then what?" Hanover muttered.

By way of explanation, Kelly zipped open the bag and pulled out the video tape.

"This is why I'm here." she said airily, sweeping the empty bag to the floor. "Do you know what this is, Jim?" Without giving him a chance to answer, she plowed on. "This is a security camera tape. Did you know that in the bigger malls they've started installing these cameras all over the place? It's amazing, actually. See, they set them up in doorways and by cash registers to make sure people aren't stealing."

Hanover remained silent, his stomach twisting uncomfortably.

"Isn't technology something?" Kelly asked eagerly, tapping the tape. "They record all day! Every single person who passes by it shows up on these tapes,whether they know it or not. Every single thing they do shows up on these tapes."

She smiled and gently laid the tape on the table, suddenly appearing crestfallen by Hanover's unimpressed expression "You don't look that interested." she said, tilting her head at him.

Hanover shrugged his shoulders. "New technology doesn't interest me." he brushed off.

"No?" Kelly said. "I think this tape in particular will. I think this tape will interest you very, very much, Jim."

"And why is that? They didn't have those things when you were a kid. Nothing on that tape is going to pr-"

He broke off his sentence when Kelly shook her head and started to laugh.

"Wow." she snickered. "You sure are feeling guilty, aren't you?" She waved off his attempt at a protest. "Just be quiet, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about the reason you're in jail."

"I'm not in jail for any reason!" Hanover shouted angrily. "That's what I thought I had hired you to prove!"

Kelly smiled. "Oh I know that. I did my job. I believe you, Jim."

Hanover looked confused. "You what?"

"I believe you. Now." Kelly said cheerfully. "I'll admit, I didn't at first. For-" she raised an eyebrow. "-obvious reasons. You know how we always clashed, right?" She flashed him a sweet smile and leaned over to pick up the discarded duffel bag. "Now, I'm sure little Becky didn't get the attention she deserved. I'm sure you beat her, and I'm sure you bullied her, maybe even played your little night games with her." She paused and raised one eyebrow seductively. "She was a pretty little girl, wasn't she? Looked older than thirteen, huh? Did that make it harder-the situation, I mean?"

Hanover pursed his lips until they were thin and white. The subject matter was not one he was comfortable being confronted on. "If you tell my wife, I'll deny it!" he snarled at her. "She won't believe you, she hated you-"

"I'm not here to talk about your parenting techniques!" Kelly shouted over him, rising to her full height. "I'm sure you were just as horrible to her as you were to me, but you didn't kill her!"

Hanover went still, his mouth still half open in ready to protest.

"What?" he breathed, all anger zapped out of him.

"I know you didn't kill her." Kelly repeated. She snatched the tape up and shoved it towards Hanover's face, making the big man jerk back in surprise. "I know because she's on this tape. Leaving with someone else. And it's timestamped in the early afternoon, which means that you were already at the bar!"

Kelly's heated words echoed off of the drab interrogation room walls and filled the air between them. The two continued staring at each other even after her voice faded away and left the room in complete and total silence.

Hanover's breathing was slowly becoming more heavy as Kelly's words weaved and twisted through his mind, emotional and ragged with the increasing reality of what they implied . Finally, he was able to turn his harsh breathing into words.

"Then- then that means-" he choked. "I'm cleared, I'm free?"

Kelly smiled at him, a cruel, mocking smile that made Hanover's blood run cold.

"No." she said simply. "Nobody knows about this but us."

She let her words hang in the air, enjoying the look of bewilderment, realization, and then horror that took turns flashing across James Hanover's face.

"Oh God-" Hanover moaned, eyes widening in horror. "You can't- that's against the law to withhold evidence- "

"What evidence?" Kelly spat at him. She stuffed the tape in the navy duffel bag, zipped it shut, and dropped it at her feet. "As far as the police are concerned, that tape doesn't exist."

Hanover's face went chalky white. "I'll tell them!" he sputtered. "You showed it to me! I'll tell everyone about it! You'll have to give it to the p-"

Kelly slammed her fist down hard, rattling the flimsy plastic table and making the big man jerk back in alarm.

"You can't do a goddamn thing!" she snarled at him. "Don't you get it? Don't you get it, Jim?" She hit the table again, hard enough to spatter a few dots of her blood on the white plastic, but didn't notice. "You have no power right now!" she yelled. "I'm the one in control! No one is going to believe you! You're a murderer! Slime like you will say anything to get off! So go on and cry to them about that tape! I'll deny it, I'll say you're crazy and once they find out that I used to be in your custody, how easy would it be for police to brush off anything you say as the ramblings of a paranoid pyschopath! I'll tell them all about your parenting techniques and they won't believe a goddamn word you say!"

Hanover slumped back in his chair, shocked to silence by Kelly's passionate outburst. A sense of impending doom swirled around him and he shook his head violently as if it would ward it off.

"No-" he breathed. "You can't do that. It's - it's illegal-"

Kelly laughed derisively. "Only if somebody finds out." she said smoothly. She leaned in close to him, close enough to smell the mint on his breath and the coffee it was meant to mask. "I'm a better liar than you, Jim. I'll spin such a story about the piece of trash that you are, the way you thought I was out to get you the second you realized who I was, the way you keep making up this crazy story about evidence that doesn't exist just to keep your case alive."

"You- you ca-"

"Yes I can. Everybody hates you. They want to string you up right now." Kelly said, nodding her head. "Besides, you've never watched it. My associates will believe me. The police force will believe me. The only person who won't believe me is you." All of the forced lightheartedness she had been wearing as a mask the past ten minutes slipped away, leaving her green eyes cold and emotionless.

"And nobody is going to listen to you." she finished quietly.

Hanover was rattled, beads of cold sweat popping up from the pores of his face. "So, why come here and tell me this. Why not just destroy the evidence?" he muttered shakily. "Is this your way of punishing me?"

Kelly smiled a meaningless smile. "Maybe." she answered him. "But, I never said I was going to destroy the evidence."

If she didn't have Hanover's attention before, she did now.

"Wha- You're not goin- Then why? Why all this?"

"Because I want you to feel what it's like being completely at someone's mercy."

Hanover's stomach gave a violent lurch, the sins of his past finally catching up with him in the most unexpected of forms. The skinny, little girl he had taken such pleasure in beating down, the frightened child that hid from him, flinched when he moved in her direction. Now ten years later, she was his demise.

"Please, Kelly-" he breathed, his words garbled with fear. "I don't understand-"

"Then let me help you." Kelly whispered. "Tell me why I should give this evidence to the police. Convince me that you deserve to walk the streets."

"Wha-?"

"Convince me that you deserve to walk out of here."

Hanover choked out a nervous laugh."H-how- I mean- what do you want me to say?"

"Be creative, Jim, I know you have it in you." Kelly answered coldly.

Hanover stared at her for a moment, at the face that was so different from the little girl he had terrorized. So different, yet so similar. Her clear green eyes so startlingly unchanged, the shape of her cheekbones, her jaw line, her wavy brown hair. For the briefest of instants, he was able to clearly see through her adult features to the child she had been, to the young little face he had taken such satisfaction in decorating with a look of terror. He swallowed and looked away, the contrast too unsettling for the moment.

It was so plainly obvious. How had he not known the second he laid eyes on her?

"Kelly-" he started. "I don't- Kelly, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" Kelly repeated softly. "Sorry for what?"

Hanover sighed and rubbed his face anxiously. "For- for everything. Giving you such a hard time."

Kelly narrowed her eyes dangerously at him, erasing all trace of the little girl he recognized in them.

"A hard time?" she sneered. "Traffic gives me a hard time. You had me afraid to open my mouth- terrified to be in your sight! I nearly threw up every time I had to talk to you! Everytime you came home, I prayed to God I wouldn't have to!" She stood up and leaned forward passionately, green eyes smoldering with emotion. But as always, before her emotion could take over, she intervened. She gripped the table hard in both hands, took a deep breath and sat back down, fully in control.

"I still have nightmares about you." she said quietly. "You didn't see me for ten years. I saw you almost every night."

Hanover let out a long, slow breath. "Look, Kelly-" he started desperately. "I have eight thousand dollars in my life savings. You can have it! Anything- anything you need-"

"I don't need your goddamned money!" Kelly shouted at him. "What I needed from you, you couldn't give me! What I needed was a father!"

He flinched, startled by her explosive temper and lowered his head to the table.

"You know, it only got worse after you." Kelly said quietly, almost meekly. "I goy in trouble for running away and missing school, so sent me to a detention center for six months. After that- I - it was harder to place me because of my record. I got put in some places where - where really bad things happened to me."

She paused for a moment and watched Hanover's expression. He looked pale, physically ill and shaking with nerves.

"Was I really that bad?" Kelly asked softly. "Was I that horrible of a kid? Why did you adopt me if you didn't want me?"

Sensing by her softened tone that she wanted an answer, Hanover looked up. The hurt in her eyes looked so familiar to him, he had to look away.

"I- I don't know-" he stammered.

Kelly scoffed derisively. "Oh, please. Yes you do." she shot back. "No one left me on your doorstep in a basket. You had to apply, go through this hassle. And for what? You didn't want to be a parent."

Hanover let out a shaky breath. "We weren't doing good financially." he said quietly. "Buddy of mine- he- his wife couldn't have kids so they took in foster kids. It looked like he was managing ok even with the two kids, so I asked him how he was doing it."

Kelly clenched her jaw and settled her gaze on her folded hands in front of her. She knew what he would say next, had suspected it even as a child. But to hear it was an entirely different matter.

"Do you know all the tax benefits you get for taking in foster children?" Hanover continued. "That, and you get extra money each month."

"To raise the child." Kelly interjected bitterly.

Hanover nodded. "Yeah, only I figured if I used less on you, then it would - you know- help us out."

Kelly stayed quiet. As much as this hurt, this was the explanation she'd been wanting for ten years. And if he was willing to explain why she had been used as a means to an end, then she was willing to listen.

"And the agency you came from- gosh,they seemed so eager to get rid of you."

But, this was too much to let go uncommented.

"What?" Kelly asked quietly. "What do you mean?"

Hanover nodded and then quickly shook his head, catching his callous wording. "They didn't say that or anything." he clarified. "But- um, they told us you were coming out of your sixth or seventh home and that they couldn't keep you anywhere for long. 'Cause your personality or something- said you were a little screwed up- that you had some bad luck lately. They even offered to bring you right away with everything you needed and it- it just seemed like it was going to work out."

Kelly swallowed the tightness in her throat. "I was a real bargain then." she whispered.

Hanover was silent for a moment, but sensing there was more to be heard, Kelly didn't break it.

"My wife didn't like the idea too much. We hadn't been doing too good with all the money stress to begin with, and I had never wanted kids with her, talked her out of it when we got married. And she wanted it so bad." He gave a sad, remorseful little laugh." But she just accepted it, you know, to be with me. So- so when I came up with my- my plan- she, I guess, resented it."

"And me?" Kelly guessed.

"And you."

It wasn't a revelation by any stretch of the imagination, yet Kelly lowered her head and nodded sadly. Hearing it from the source gave her a crushing sense of confirmation, erased any foolish notion that she had been anything but an annoyance, an irritant unable to be washed away. It was a relief almost, putting to end the wondering if she had done something wrong. Even if she had been perfect, she still would have been hated simply for being someone else's daughter.

"Was I the first?" she asked quietly.

Hanover nodded. "It worked out for us for awhile. Money would get tight, but the checks really helped."

"Not me." Kelly added darkly. "So your wife was mean to me because she resented me. And you?"

"It was stressful times." Hanover started. "I wasn't making as much at work, my marriage was hitting a slump-"

"So punching your foster kid, I guess that gave you some control, huh?" Kelly spat bitterly. "Touching her in her sleep? That helped you feel like a big strong man?"

Again, the abrupt accusation unnerved him. "No, I-"

"You what?" Kelly challenged. "That's what it was about, right? Power? Control?"

Hanover sighed and rubbed his face in both hands. "I guess so."

Kelly glared at him silently for a few moments, memories of fear and pain rushing up all around her, making her chest tight, her throat burn.

"That's not what it was like for me. Or Becky Saunders." she managed. She narrowed her eyes and angrily set her jaw. "It's no fun not having any power. Is it, Jim?" When he didn't respond, Kelly kicked the table leg, rattling it's surface and making the big man flinch. "Answer me!" she snapped, imating his demanding nature from years ago.

But, Hanover appeared to be out of words. His hands shook and his breathing rattled. Kelly watched him for a moment before reaching down and picking up the duffel bag containing the tape.

"You know, it's funny. Hindsight really is twenty twenty isn't it? I regret not ever telling anyone about you and I bet you're regretting every time you laid a hand on a kid, aren't you?" she asked conversationally. "I'm sure I wasn't the only one you beat up on, am I right?"

Harsh, shaky breathing was her only answer.

"Was I the only one you starved?" she asked, chilling eagerness in her voice. "Or humiliated, or locked up, or touched?"

He didn't answer, but Kelly was finished.

"I think I'm done here." she said airily, slinging the bag strap over her shoulder. Hanover remained frozen in his seat. Sighing to herself, Kelly bent down to look him in the eyes one last time. "You disgust me." she said firmly. "You're a monster. A heartless monster. Whatever happens to you here is more than you deserve."

Hanover finally looked up. "The t-tape?" he whispered feebly, his voice quavering on the verge of tears.

Kelly unconsciously clutched her bag closer to her. "What tape? I'm going now. And I don't plan on seeing you again." She narrowed her eyes coldly. "But, if I do, I have a feeling you'll remember me."

Leaving her broken foster father sitting in stunned silence, Kelly turned, and without looking back strode decidedly toward the door she had come from. She could feel the hard plastic corner of the tape digging into her ribs, seeming to burn a hole through the bag. She had no idea now what she was going to do with it. But that decision would come later.

There was an emotional storm coming now, churning deep inside her chest and stinging the corners of her eyes, and right now, Kelly lacked the power to shut it off. She needed to get out of here. There was just enough willpower left to get past Officer Hank. And then she needed about half an hour of privacy.

So engaged with keeping her emotions in check, she didn't notice the scuffling coming from the other side of the door. When it swung back just before her hand reached for the knob, she jerked back in alarm and managed to choke back a startled yelp.

Standing before her with unreadable expressions were both Jill and Sabrina.


	26. Chapter 26

**_This would have been pretty cool if I'd finished it on July 4th, huh? _**

**_Or, you know... in February._**

**_Anyway, sorry for dragging it out so long. Not much more to go now. Thanks for sticking with me._**

**_-kp_**

* * *

Chapter 26

Kelly's heart stopped and her stomach gave a violent somersault, their presence like a bucket of ice water dumped on her head They had been here?, she screamed at herself. Had they heard? Had they heard everything?

In a wordless response, Sabrina reached out, gripped her elbow and roughly pulled her out of the doorway and into the dimly lit hall. Kelly remained frozen, still stunned speechless by their unexpected arrival. She quickly stuffed her injured hand into her pocket and clutched her bag closer, feeling the corner of the tape dig harder into her side through the fabric walls of the duffel bag.

"Kelly." Sabrina said seriously. Her voice was strained, the way it got before she either cried or lost her temper, and Kelly found herself unsure which scenario would be worse. "That-" she said, thrusting a pointed finger towards the door. "-in there. Is that true? Is all that true?"

The door clicked shut loudly and in her panic, Kelly whirled around to face it. Her eyes flitted up, seeing Jill had closed it behind them, locking Hanover safely inside. The grip on her arm grew tighter and she glanced down to realize Sabrina was still holding her arm. Both their faces looked grim. They had heard. They had heard everything.

And if there was any desparately clinging to doubt left in her head, Sabrina's question had just erased it. Kelly's stomach churned painfully and she looked away, unable to give an answer. She'd known that question was coming the instant she saw her friends, the instant she'd opened the door and discovered them standing there like that. And though every thought in her head was screaming for her to run away before they asked again, deeply dreading another question that would confirm the obvious, she couldn't. She was trapped. Trapped by her friends, trapped by her lies, completely and utterly trapped.

Sabrina gave her arm an impatient shake.

"Kelly, answer me." she ordered.

"Jesus Christ." Kelly breathed through her teeth. She turned away from Sabrina in shame, but the evasive gesture only brought her eye to eye with Jill. And Jill's face was even harder to look at.

Slender fingers firmly suddenly gripped her jaw and pulled her head back to its former position. No matter how much she didn't want to, she was forced to look into Sabrina's narrowed and intense brown eyes, angry, unbelieving, demanding answers. But compared to Jill's watery eyed look of shock, sadness, and betrayal, this was infinitely preferable.

"Was all that true, Kelly?" Sabrina asked again, the corners of her mouth fighting the urge to tug down. "I need to hear you answer."

Kelly averted her eyes and tried to nod her head in response, but Sabrina still had hold of her face.

"Yeah." she whispered softly instead. The moment she did, a flush of warmth spread its way across her face. The pressure on her jaw released as Sabrina let her hand drop back to her side and for brief moment, Kelly wished it hadn't, if only because it had helped hide her face.

A loud yawn had all three girls quickly turning to face the door they'd come in. Officer Hank was milling about the opposite end of the hallway, his hand in his pocket, gleefully toying with both the two twenties Kelly had given him and the twenty Jill had also exchanged for some space. He caught them staring and gave them a boyish grin.

Sabrina let out a slow, steady stream of air and turned her attention back to her friends. "Kelly, this is-" She shook her head and pressed a hand between Kelly's shoulder blades, guiding her away from the door. "C'mon, kiddo, we can't talk here."

With Jill holding her arm and Sabrina's hand on her back, Kelly could do little else but be lead out of the hallway. With a nod to Officer Hank, the trio crossed the empty lobby, walked out the main doors into the bright late afternoon sunshine and around the side of the building. As the girls neared the cab, Earl waiting impatiently inside, Kelly felt a tug on her hand and was pulled forward behind a large, sticky looking dumpster. The unexpected tug nearly cost her her balance and she stumbled forward as she walked. By the time she'd regained her footing, Sabrina and Jill were both standing in front of her, arms crossed, ominous in the shadow and privacy from the street that the dumpster provided. It was all too much and Kelly exhaled slowly and concentrated on staring at her feet.

This was it, she realized. She had no choice now. The girls were silent for a moment, save for the frantic beating of Kelly's heart, as they waited each other out.

Jill was the first to run out of patience.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Jill began softly, after the few moments of tense silence.

Kelly shook her head. There was no answer. At least not one that would justify what she had done. She shrugged her shoulders slightly in response.

"We were defending him." Jill continued. She glanced at Sabrina and uttered a soft curse. "You knew what he was and you didn't say anything?"

Kelly looked up to respond and immediately wished she hadn't. Jill looked beyond hurt, they both did, and it was her fault. Her eyes again found the littered, cracked asphalt that surrounded her shoes.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Sabrina asked, her voice calm and steady. "Is this why you've been sneaking around and lying to us?"

Her voice was steady, but the hurt in it was unmistakable. Kelly pursed her lips against a rush of shame and remorse. "I- I didn't want you to know." she muttered lamely, when she was able to speak.

Understandably, both Jill and Sabrina scoffed at the pathetic excuse.

"Didn't wan-" Sabrina echoed angrily, the calm facade now a thing of the past. She sighed in frustration and began to pace anxiously between the lines of shadow the dumpster created. "Don't you think that's something we should have known, Kelly! Don't you think we would have like to have known that we were defending someone like that? Someone that hurts kids, hurt you?" she cried. "Or, how about evidence, Kelly! We've been at this for nearly a week! Sure would have been nice to know we were wasting our time! Don't you think we would like to have known you had the evidence all along?"

Kelly couldn't respond. Sabrina was right. She'd been a fool. A lying, decieving, selfish fool.

"And he was your foster dad?" Sabrina suddenly blurted out in disbelief, as if the idea was having trouble sticking. She jerked her thumb towards the police building the dumpster was separating them from. "Him? Him in there? And he- he hurt you?"

Kelly, fighting tears, lowered her eyes to the floor.

"How long were you with them?" Sabrina asked, the same disgusted, horrified tone in her voice.

The only immediate answer Kelly could summon was a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Kelly-" Jill warned.

It wasn't enough. Kelly took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Less than a year." she whispered

Sabrina let out a curse and angrily slammed the back of her heel into the dumpster, the hollow echo startling Kelly, Jill, and the unfortunate pigeon that was perched on top. The bird fluttered away and Kelly watched it go, wishing she could follow.

"I can't believe you, Kelly!" Sabrina shouted again, grabbing her arm. "That was him? The one that told you all those th- and he- he did -" She paused and anxiously rubbed her face, unable to voice it. "-all that to you? He-"

"Sabrina, don't-!" Kelly snapped suddenly. She yanked her arm from her friend's tight grip and clutched her bag closer to her. The overwhelming feeling of helplessness triggered her claustrophobic anxiety and her chest began to heave. She angrily swiped at the hair on her face and, for the first time looked her friends in the eyes. Her face was flushed, so hot she was starting to sweat.

"Wh-what do you want me to say, huh?" she spat bitterly. "You think that's something I want to talk about?"

The girls shared a look and Sabrina threw up her hands, momentarily giving Jill the reins.

Jill sighed and stepped forward. "You should have told us about him." she said quietly. "We had no idea."

"Well, you know now!" Kelly snapped, flustered to the point of agitation. "You were standing right there! You heard everything, didn't you?"

Jill nodded sadly. "Most everything, yeah." she whispered. She wiped the dampness off of her eyes with the back of her hand and reached out to rest it against Kelly's bag. She expected Kelly to instinctively pull away from her and her friend didn't disappoint.

"No Kelly, give it to me." Jill said gently.

Kelly stepped back, a dog guarding it's bone, and eyed her two best friends suspiciously. They wouldn't take it from her, they wouldn't force her. She took another step backwards.

"We heard. Give me the tape." Jill repeated softly, extending a hand. She didn't touch the bag again, just waited, her eyes red rimmed and glassy, her mouth pursed as if holding back tears. "Now, Kelly."

And suddenly she wasn't holding them back anymore. Both of Jill's hurt-filled blue eyes overflowed at once, sending two tears dripping off of her lashes and trailing down her cheeks. Her lip quivered but she merely worked her jaw and acknowledged them no further.

Kelly had to look away. She'd put those expressions on Jill and Sabrina's faces. With her lies and her deceit. She was no better than that piece of trash she'd just left. Turns burned again in her own eyes but she swallowed and forced them away. Without looking, she shrugged the strap off of her shoulder and held it away from her.

The weight of the bag left her arm, taken up by Jill or Sabrina, she wasn't sure which, she couldn't bring herself to look. Kelly tried again to swallow the mass in her chest. They must hate her. At the very least, they distrusted her now. How could they not with the way she had been acting, her lying, her sneaking around? She'd ruined everything.

A hand rested against her arm.

"Look at us." Jill's voice said softly. Kelly let her green eyes flit over to her two friend's faces but found it impossible to keep them there.

"How long have you had this?" Sabrina asked, both her voice and demeanor softened. Kelly glanced at her face, took in the mixture of hurt and anger in her eyes, and looked away.

"Since Thursday." she whispered.

Jill and Sabrina exchanged a look of surprise before Jill gave Kelly's arm a squeeze. "I need you to tell us. Tell us everything, Kelly." she urged. She released the hold she had on her friend and quietly stuck her hands in her pockets to wait.

Kelly sighed and for the first time in several minutes, looked away from the ground. Jill and Sabrina were standing side by side, the duffel bag slung over Jill's shoulder, both girls upset, angry, in need of the answers only she could provide. She unsuccessfully tried to swallow away the tightness in her throat and let her eyes scan the parking lot, the handful of cars scattered around it, the hazy shimmer above the asphalt from the June heat. But there were no people nearby. They were alone here, hidden in the shadow of a grungy dumpster, safe from prying eyes.

A cool breeze rustled her hair, sending a few strands in her face, though Kelly was too upset to notice or care.

Sabrina reached up and gently tucked them behind her ear. "Come on now." she urged quietly.

Kelly nodded slightly and leaned back against the hard surface of the brick wall behind her. "What do you wanna know?" she muttered finally.

Jill and Sabrina shared another knowing look. This could take all day.

"Did you know who he was right from the start?" Jill started.

Kelly nodded her head slowly. "Yeah. I recognized them both, but they- they didn't recognize me."

Jill swore under her breath. "And how old were you- when- when you were there?"

"Twelve, thirteen." Kelly answered quickly. She wearily rubbed her sore eyes with the heel of her palm and took a deep breath. Waiting for them to ask all the right questions would prolong this much more than she wanted, and she wasn't sure how long she could retain composure. So, bracing herself, she fixed her eyes on Sabrina and Jill's shoes and let the words tumble awkwardly from her mouth in a steady stream, never pausing longer than what she needed to take a breath. She told them everything. From her first awkward encouter at the office with Candace Hanover, her suspicions of her husband's guilt, her reluctance to help him, Becky's true killer and his death, and finally, the tape's discovery and her gut twisting indecision on what to do with it.

Jill and Sabrina stood in silence and let her talk with no interruptions. When it became clear she was finished, the two shared a look and nodded in some sort of unspoken agreement.

"Who else knows about this?" Sabrina asked, gesturing towards the bag slung over Jill's shoulder.

Kelly's eyebrows knitted in puzzlement. That hadn't exactly been the first response she was expecting. "No one-" she whispered. "I-I stole it, remember?"

"And they don't know it's missing?"

Kelly shrugged. "I doubt it."

Sabrina nodded in acceptance and wet her pursed lips. Her expression was intense, yet unreadable, and not knowing what her friend thought about this made Kelly nervous.

"And- the things he did to you when you were a kid-" Sabrina said, her wording slow and deliberate. "He never- you never reported it?"

Kelly sighed wearily. "I was twelve, Bri. I was too scared to tell, I didn't know any better."

"How many others were there after you?" Jill asked.

Kelly's eyes drifted to her and then looked away. Jill wasn't even making an attempt to wipe away the tears sliding down her cheeks and the sight was like a knife twisting in Kelly's gut. "I don't know." she answered.

"None of them reported it." Sabrina said quietly. "It would have been on his record. He's been doing this to kids for ten years."

"What about her?" Jill asked, sneering out the last word. From her tone, it was obvious who she was talking about.

Kelly forced a brave smile. "They're two of a kind." she said lightly.

Jill nodded her head. "Figured that much."

The three girls stood in silence for a few moments, shifting awkwardly in their loose circle, before finally, Jill and Sabrina locked eyes. Sabrina reached for the duffel bag and carefully slipped it off of Jill's shoulder.

"When were you planning on showing this to us?" she asked, raising the bag to Kelly's eye level, as if the subject needed clarification.

The question made Kelly turn away in shame. "I don't know-" she stammered. "I was- I wouldn't have kept it from you-"

Sabrina ignored her floundering. "This can let him walk free today." she said quickly, giving the bag a shake. "What were you going to do with it?"

Tear sprung to Kelly's eyes and, suddenly enraged at them, she angrily swiped them away. "I don't know!" she choked. "I- I don't know, Bri!"

Jill laid a hand on her shoulder and rubbed it gently to calm her. "Kelly-" she started. But Kelly had had enough. The tears were coming and releasing them in front of her friends was just as unthinkable as deciding what to do with that tape.

"No!" Kelly cut her off, shaking her head violently. "You know, I wasn't the only one sneaking around behind people's backs!"

Jill and Sabrina quickly looked away.

"Kell, we can explain, ok?" Sabrina said quietly. "When we get bac-"

But, her childhood pictures were less of a concern now and Kelly angrily waved her off. "I don't care! Let's just take it inside! I'm sorry, ok? I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I'm sorry I kept it." Jill tried to touch her face, but Kelly swatted her hand away. "Don't Jill-" she warned. "You can take it inside- I'll wait- I can't-"

"Kelly-" Sabrina said firmly, taking hold of her arm.

"What!" Kelly snapped, her voice high and shrill with oncoming tears. Frustrated by her friend's caring gestures, she shook herself free of their grasp and took several steps away. "You have the tape! Just- I - just take it inside so we can go home!"

Sabrina and Jill shared a look, their silence and lack of explanations driving Kelly wild with frustration. She took quick, shallow breaths, trying to maintain control and glared at them to mask the hysteria fluttering up from deep in her chest.

"Please, I- I'll stay here. I'll wait right here-" Kelly tried again, her anger giving way into desperation. They needed to go. To just leave her alone if only for a few minutes. "Bri- please." she begged desperately. "Just go! Go on-"

"Shh. Kelly, calm down." Jill hushed her, raising her palm. "Lower your voice, people will hear." She closed the distance between them and, though Kelly tried to resist, took firm hold of her arm. "Now, look. We're not going back inside."

Kelly turned her attention from squirming away and felt her features twist in bewilderment. "What?"

Jill didn't clarify. Instead, Kelly felt her hand run soothingly up and down her arm. Jill's eyes were focused on Sabrina and, confused and desperately seeking some sort of explanation, Kelly's eyes followed her gaze.

Her blonde friend was staring at Sabrina intently, neither girls saying a word. As Kelly watched in confusion, Sabrina fumbled for the duffel bag's zipper, slid it open, pulled out the tape, and let the bag flop to the floor.

Kelly narrowed her eyes, and started forward. "What are you d-?"

"Shh." Jill repeated firmly. She raised her arm in front of Kelly, barring her intended forward motion, and pushed her back.

Bewildered now, Kelly's eyes flitted from Jill, back to the tape. And as she watched, her green eyes widened, the lone puzzle pieces in her head suddenly coming together.

In the shadow of the police station dumpster, Sabrina took the tape in her hands and gave a quick, nervous glance over both shoulders and across the empty parking lot. When she was satisfied that there were no witnesses, she gripped the tape firmly with both hands and with a jerk of her arms, snapped it in two.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

The clean snap of breaking plastic echoed through the otherwise quiet parking lot.

Kelly's eyes widened, and for what felt like an eternity, she stared blankly, speechlessly, at the two pieces of black plastic in Sabrina's hands, connected only by a curling length of light brown film.

She was only vaguely aware of Jill comfortingly patting her back, hardly registered Jill's voice quietly saying something to either her or Sabrina. She could only stare in utter disbelief at the destroyed piece of evidence in her friend's hands. When she was finally able to tear her gaze away from the broken plastic, her eyes didn't stray far, only looking up enough to meet Sabrina's in a stunned, gaping, stare. Sabrina answered the multitude of unasked question with only a slight nod of her head.

And finally Kelly understood.

They had taken control, taken it out of her incapable hands. And the look in Sabrina's eyes told her she was once and for all relieved of her burden.

Sabrina broke eye contact and quickly dropped to one knee. She yanked frantically at the curls of film, zipping and tearing them out of their plastic house with a high pitched whir. When the tape was a tangled and torn mess, she scooped up the bag, stuffed the broken tape inside, then deftly plucked up the few jagged pieces of plastic that had fallen to the asphalt and bagged them as well. Kelly watched Sabrina zip the bag shut and stomp on it several times, crunching to pieces the evidence inside before slinging it over her shoulder and finally rising to her feet. She must have still looked shocked, because Sabrina paused, stuck her hands in her pocket and walked directly in front of her, her mouth set in a stern line.

"We won't talk about this again." Sabrina said firmly, pointing a stern finger in Kelly's face. "I'll take this home with me and completely destroy it, but this never comes up again. Not with us, not with Bosely, not with Charlie, not with anyone. Do you understand?"

Kelly seemed to fight a battle to be able to nod her head and wasn't sure she had succeeded. She must have though, because her friend's features softened.

"I love you." Sabrina said quickly. She reached up and gave her friend's shoulder a squeeze. "Now, quit looking at me like that. Let's get out of here."

Kelly numbly obeyed.

She wasn't sure how she was able to walk from behind the protective shadow of the dumpster, but she did, Jill and Sabrina flanking her, at her side like always. Even now, when she deserved it least, here they remained, just as they'd promised they would. Kelly glanced at them both and then returned her gaze to the asphalt in front of her. To have their unconditional friendship after all the wrong she'd done them was something she couldn't quite understood, but it left her speechless, incapable of forming a single thought in her head. That and her confrontation with Hanover, reliving it all behind a dumpster, the past week, everything. It was all too much. And now so was the knot in her throat. Hot tears blurred her vision, making it impossible to see what was in front of her. A desperate attempt to blink them away only sent an eager tear rolling down her cheek and once she'd started there was no stopping. She futilely wiped at them with her injured right hand, now swollen and greatly unappreciative of recieving a coating of salty liquid. The open wound screamed at her, but Kelly kept walking, welcoming the pain.

"What's that?" Jill asked suddenly, grabbing at her arm. "What happened to your h-"

Sabrina made a litle noise in the back of her throat and Jill immediately snipped off the end of her question. Kelly couldn't look at either of them. The shame burned her face, ate away at her and sent even more tears to eyes.

"Oh." Jill said slowly. "Right. Well, we-we can take care of that at the hotel. Let me see."

Kelly wordlessly held her arm out to Jill and let her friend press a crumpled napkin that she'd pulled out of her purse, to her sore knuckles, the white paper immediately sticking to her wound. It would hurt to peel it off later, but that didn't matter.

They walked a little farther, the scenery nothing but blurred splashes of color and shapes to Kelly's eyes, but Sabrina had a hand pressed into her back and wouldn't let her trip. A blob of yellow turned out to be a cab, and Kelly suddenly understood how'd they'd found her.

"Just keep cool, ok?" Sabrina whispered in her ear. "We'll be back at the hotel in twenty minutes and then we can go home."

Kelly didn't even respond. She let her friends pile her between them in the back of a taxi cab, meekly held her hurt hand on her lap, and lowered her head, crying silent but steady tears.

"Hi, Earl!" Jill sang as she settled herself, drawing his name out as was her custom. Somehow she'd summoned a lighthearted, bubbly voice, that attempted but didn't quite succeed at making the scene look any more normal to the baffled cab driver.

"We found her!" Sabrina said brightly, slamming the door shut after them. "Sorry we took so long, had something we had to talk out. Back to the hotel, huh?"

The cabbie eyed the three women in his backseat with wide, horrified eyes.

"Uh- y-yes, ma'am." he stammered, as he hurriedly shoved his cab into gear and peeled out into the street. He was watching the road this time, but couldn't help glancing into the rearview mirror every fifth second. Well, they'd finally caught her. There she was, that girl they'd been tracking for days. That girl that, just fifteen minutes ago, had been marched behind a dumpster and emerged in tears with a bleeding hand. Whatever had happened, he sure as hell didn't know. Not that he wasn't curious as to what the whole mess was about. But, he wasn't being paid to get into people's business. He was paid to drive.

And drive he would. Take them wherever it was they were going, drop them off without looking back, and drive away.

And the next time two crazy women wanted him to help them stalk someone around the city, that's exactly what he'd do. Drive away. Keep on driving until they could never find him again.

The ride back to the hotel was surreal for Kelly. Buildings and scenery from her childhood blurred by her, but she didn't notice or care. She was vaguely aware of Jill and Sabrina sitting in the backseat with her, Jill's arm still around her, fingers gently kneading her still tense shoulders.

No one spoke, and Kelly was glad. Because she didn't know what to say, couldn't possibly fathom words to convey what she was feeling. Her friends had committed a serious crime, had done it willingly without question, without being asked, without looking back. And they had done it for her. To exact revenge on someone who had destroyed her childhood and the childhoods of nameless and faceless others.

Kelly gulped and a fresh wave of tears leaked from the corner of her eyes and slid down her cheeks. She felt Jill rub her shoulder and lean close to whisper something in her ear. Kelly felt her warm breath on her face, felt it rustle her hair, heard the gentle murmur but didn't understand in the slightest.

But apparently Sabrina had. She reached out an arm and gave Kelly's knee a friendly squeeze.

Kelly forced a smile and gently rested her hand on top of Sabrina's. She hadn't heard what Jill said, but whatever it was, the meaning was clear.

* * *

The door was open. Not much. Just a crack. As if Kelly had meant to close it, but hadn't quiet succeeded. Just enough space to look inside.

Sabrina swallowed and silently stepped forward and lowered an eye towards the thin gap between door and frame, blotting out some of the moonlight that had been spilling into the hallway.

It took several seconds of blinking and intense focus, before her eyes became adjusted to the dim lighting of Kelly's room, but when they finally did, she could see the outline of her best friend, sitting cross legged on her bed, her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking with heart wrenching, but silent sobs. That wasn't surprising, though. The few times she had seen Kelly cry, it had been silent. Kelly had learned to do that, she knew, had learned to hide her emotions in order to survive. And it wasn't fair.

The sight brought a bitter lump to her throat.

After their incident in the police station, they'd gone back to the hotel and she'd stayed with Kelly to pack up, return the rental car, and clear things with the hotel, while Jill drove down to the Hanover residence to inform her that there was nothing to find and no amount of money or detectives could prove a guilty man innocent. She'd taken the diary with her and returned a few hours later with a hand that was just as mangled as Kelly's. Caught it in the car door, Jill had explained.

With no more business in Nevada, the girls had jumped on the red eye and only just arrived in L.A. less than an hour ago. Kelly had been quiet during the hours between her admission and now. She'd refused dinner and slept a bit while Jill had been gone and when she came back, they avoided any subject dealing with Nevada, trying to keep the topic light for her sake. They'd wanted to talk, but they were in public. The timing wasn't right. And now, after what felt like months, they were back at Kelly's place and without having to discuss it, both Jill and Sabrina had mutually decided to stay for the night. It was late anyway and Charlie, bewildered by their unexpected withdrawal from the case, wanted to hear from them in the office tomorrow afternoon.

Sabrina sighed to herself as she watched Kelly. She'd been hoping once Kelly was home and safe they could talk, but her poor friend hadn't gotten her head around everything yet, avoided the topic and was awkward and uncomfortable around her and Jill. Not out of deceit this time though, Sabrina knew. Kelly was embarassed, ashamed of everything she'd done and it would take a little longer for her to be ready. Guilt was something she didn't handle well and from the looks of her crying on her bed, it wasn't mixing well with the childhood's worth of horrible memories this week had dredged up for her. As much as she wanted to go to her, she knew in her heart that right now the only way Kelly could properly deal with this and give herself the closure she had been missing for ten years was to leave her in privacy, doing exactly what she was doing.

And though later, she would go back into the room to find Kelly had cried herself to sleep, later she'd wipe away the dried streaks tears had left on her friend's face, pull a blanket over her and sit with her so she wouldn't be alone if she had a nightmare, right now she had leave.

Forcing herself to look away, Sabrina slowly pulled away from the door and, against every instict in her body, made herself walk back into the living room.

As she took her first step away from Kelly's door, a flash of blonde caught her eye and Jill thumped softly against her.

Startled, Sabrina instinctively grabbed her friend's shoulders and took a step backwards. "Whoa, careful." she laughed.

"Oh, sorry!" Jill apologized immediately. "I didn't see you. I came to check on Ke-"

"She's sleeping." Sabrina interrupted firmly.

Jill looked confused. "Sleeping?" she echoed. "I just saw-"

"Yeah, she was pretty tired." Sabrina cut in. She smiled and released Jill's shoulders. "You hungry? Come on, let's get something to eat." she said, linking her arm through Jill's. "You haven't eaten in hours you must be dying."

Jill took the hint.

She grinned back and with one last longing glance over her shoulder at Kelly's door, she turned and let Sabrina lead her away from Kelly and towards the kitchen.

"You're right. I'm practically wasting away." she laughed, patting her flat stomach. "We've been gone awhile, I'm sure Kelly would appreciate us getting rid of some leftovers for her before they go bad."

Sabrina laughed and gamely rolled her eyes. Jill was just as worried as she was, but for now they could both use a snack and a little light heartedness. She'd go back and check on Kelly after Jill went to bed and then hopefully tomorrow morning, Kelly would have herself calmed down enough to sort this out together.

There was definitely a story to get straight before meeting with Charlie.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Kelly's eyes slid open and drooped lazily shut.

Was it morning already?

Had sleep actually taken her last night? Given in to the demands of her exhausted body, snatched her from the iron grip of guilt, worry, and horror she'd been reliving for what felt like weeks?

Well, it was morning outside. That was answer enough.

She'd been more exhausted than she realized. And though she'd apparently slept for several hours, it was still very much evident. Her eyes, even shut against the soft light streaming through the drawn curtains of her bedroom window, still burned, felt dry and bloodshut after her fit last night. Her body felt drained and weak from crying, her throat and chest still raw, an unsettled gnawing in the pit of her stomach, her head still muddled and confused.

A stress hangover? Was it possible?, she wondered idly to herself.

More sleep. That would help. She'd worn herself ragged all week. Physically, emotionally, mentally, there was nothing left. And if she managed to drift off now, she'd be spared the turbulent thoughts desperately trying to surface from beneath her sleep clouded mind, keep them at bay, unable to fully form just yet.

Yes. Back to sleep. Back to escape. That was best.

Though it was July, the air condition vent was positioned above her bed and the room was a little chilly. Eager for the escape of unconscious, Kelly rolled over, away from the window's light, intending to wrap herself up in her blanket.

She let out a strangled cry of surprise when her arm landed on a solid lump of warmth in her bed and, startled wide awake, jerked away from the unexpected presence.

The lump mumbled something, disturbed by the unintentional swat, and repositioned itself on the pillow. But after a few moments of continuing it's slow steady breathing, it paused and then sat up, calmly rubbing it's eyes and letting the blanket pool in its lap.

Heart still beating cold from the scare, Kelly stared at Sabrina, her surprise melding first into bewilderment, understanding, then finally an emotion she couldn't immediately place. As usual, Sabrina took awhile to transition from sleep to consciousness, but when clarity finally returned to her brown eyes, she turned and grinned, noticing Kelly was already awake.

"Hey, kiddo." Sabrina greeted softly in her low, sleepy morning voice. "Feeling better?"

Kelly sat up and looked around, realization making her heart swell. The blanket now bunched up on her lap had been folded up across the foot of her bed the last time she remembered. Her shoes had been on, her head had not been resting on a pillow. Sabrina had come in after she'd fallen asleep and done all that. And, because Jill, for some reason, found her couch the most comfortable thing in the world, Sabrina was guaranteed her own bed all to herself in the next room. But despite that, she'd stayed to protect her, keep her safe from the night and the demons it often brought with it.

And try as she might, Kelly couldn't understand why.

She knew her friends loved her, she knew. They both did things for her, sought out and enjoyed her company, cheered her up when she was down, ensured she had a place to spend holidays, everything good friends did. And if that wasn't enough, they'd both told her as much. She'd be stupid not to understand that. Of course she understood.

Or at least thought she did.

But this, this thing they'd done for her, this thing went beyond what she'd thought the boundaries of friendship consisted of and for some reason it terrified her. The risk they were taking was unheard of. And for what? For her?

"Are you alright?"

The second question reminded Kelly that she hadn't responded to the first and, unable to look at Sabrina, she fixed her gaze on her lap and shrugged. "Fine." she answered quietly.

Sabrina stared at her a moment longer, wondering if she'd continue without prompting. But, when a few minutes went by without Kelly so much as moving, she leaned over and gave her a slight nudge. "Feeling any better? You slept pretty hard last night."

"I'm feeling better." Kelly answered in that same toneless, quiet voice. Another awkward silence washed over them and though she was grateful for Sabrina being there, though she was glad they'd taken the burden off of her shoulders, Kelly wanted more than ever to be left alone. She could feel Sabrina staring at her, worrying, waiting for her to start talking about something she herself couldn't even begin to understand.

"You want to talk?" she heard Sabrina's voice ask her. Her tone was non-threatening, gentle, everything she didn't deserve her best friend to be after the way she'd acted. Sabrina should be furious with her. She should yell. She should ignore her. She should want nothing to do with her. And because she was none of those things, because Sabrina's reaction made no sense to her, Kelly started to feel anger well up inside her own chest, eager to combat all the other emotions struggling for dominance.

"No." she answered, her tone clipped, but even. "I'm fine."

"I don't think you are. That was alot to handle alone."

"I'm fine." Kelly repeated.

"You don't look fine."

Kelly sighed her frustration. "I just- What is wrong with you two? What if something happens and you and Jill get in trouble because-"

"We won't." Sabrina assured her calmly. "I told you it's been handled."

"And if it's not?"

"It is." Sabrina shot back, her voice suddenly stern. " Do not bring this up again. Ok?"

Kelly was quiet for a moment, but the fierce certainty in her friend's voice finally compelled her to reluctantly nod her head. "Ok." she whispered.

"Ok." Sabrina echoed. Kelly heard the mattress squeak and knew Sabrina had turned her body to face her, scooted closer to continue the conversation. She couldn't return the favor though. Her cheeks burned and the gaze she had on the blanket in her lap intensified.

"Is that all that's bothering you?"

Kelly shrugged.

"Then what?"

"I'm sorry."

She heard Sabrina's soft sigh. A warm hand rested on her shoulder. "You already said that, Kelly."

"It isn't enough." Kelly blurted out. "I don't know how to make this right."

"You don't need to."

As usual, when faced with something she couldn't understand or explain, the anger resurfaced and another ragged sigh of frustration escaped Kelly's lips. "Why did you do it, Bri?" she said heatedly. "Why are you two covering for me, huh? I lied to you. I lied to Jill- I almost hit Jill- I didn't trust you, I went behind your back, I acted like you two were my enemies!"

Sabrina patiently let her rant without interruption.

"So why would you put yourself in that- that position for me?" Kelly continued, balling her blanket in two angry fists. "Why are you being so-so-" Unable to finish, she shook her head and fixed her eyes, already starting to blur with hot tears, on her nightstand, stared hard at the lamp, the alarm clock, the week old half empty glass of water, watched their images dissolve from shaky outlines to a single haze of brown and yellow.

Sabrina remained quiet, wisely letting Kelly vent out her self-loathing. She waited until Kelly had composed herself enough to face forward again before continuin. "Wouldn't you have done the same for me or Jill?" she asked her.

The comment earned her the first brief flash of eye contact before Kelly's gaze found her lap again.

"I know you would." Sabrina sighed, reaching for her hand. "Kelly, listen. You think we'd abandon you over a little screw up like that? Me and Jill, we're your family."

Kelly shook her head. "I know that." she whispered. "You've told me. Jill's told me. It's just- it's hard." The anger was gone now, replaced with the same awkward, uneasiness she had been wearing since leaving Nevada. Sabrina gave her hand a comforting squeeze.

"What's hard?"

The question went unanswered, but not ignored. Kelly had turned away again, but Sabrina was patient. She watched her carefully so as not to push her too far, watched the muscles in her jaw work, the corner of her mouth twitch as she fought tooth and nail for control. When Kelly finally answered, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I've never had that."

Sabrina nodded her understanding. "Now you do." she said quietly.

"And that's it, it's that easy for you to decide?" Kelly whispered. "You'll do all that for me just because you said you would? Just like that?"

"Just like that."

Kelly swallowed back another surge of tears. "Just like that." she echoed shakily, comprehension still evading her. "Bri, I really screwed up. And you kept on trying to help me no matter how much I pushed you away, no matter what kind of a-"

"Kelly." Sabrina cut her off. "Family, remember? We knew something was wrong. Christ, you dont wait around for permission to save someone that's drowning, do you? We knew you needed help and you weren't gonna ask for it." She paused and sighed heavily. "And I know what me and Jill did was wrong-"

"Oh, Bri, I don't care ab-."

"Well, I do and I'm sorry. We all handled this badly, we did, but we didn't know what else to do and leaving you wasn't an option. Family doesn't walk away and leave someone who's in trouble. No matter how much they say otherwise. Understand?"

Kelly shook her head. "No. I don't. That's just it." she said quietly. "I'm trying to, but it's hard for me, Bri." Her eyes overflowed as she spoke and finally, two eager tears went sliding down her cheeks. Before they could get past her nose, she swiped them away, leaving her cheek shiny and wet.

Sabrina watched her. This was a new side of Kelly that had revealed itself in the past few days. A vulnerable, guilt ridden soul, trying desperately to escape her past, to be accepted as the person people expected her to be, salvage any security leak in complete secrecy. And she tried so hard, went to astronomical lengths. But in the end, it still wasn't enough. And seeing her like this was enough to make her regret all the negative feelings the week in Nevada had inspired about her. Kelly's mind operated in strange ways, and by no means would she ever condone it, but she understood now. Not knowing what else to say or do, she drew her friend into a warm hug. Kelly at first stiffened at the contact, but relaxed and hugged her back.

"Kell, I'm not asking you to understand. Just know that."

Kelly wiped her eyes again and nodded. "I do know that. I just- I want it to go away. I wish I was normal."

Sabrina let out a little laugh as the girls pulled apart. "Normal. What's normal? No ones normal." she said dismissively. "I wish it coulda been different for you too, you know? But, there's nothing you have to hide, nothing in your past can change anything. Besides, we love Jill and she's not even close to normal."

For the first time in a long while, a ghost of a smile flitted across Kelly's face.

"Look, from now on we stick together, understand?" Sabrina said firmly. "We're a family. We gotta watch out for each other. No more hiding stuff, no more sneaking around, no more secrets. Promise?"

"I promise." came Kelly's soft murmur.

"Me too." Sabrina replied. "And Jill. We'll get it writing from her later."

"Get what?"

Kelly and Sabrina turned to see Jill standing in the doorway, pajamas on and hair tousled from sleep.

"Nothing, Jill." Sabrina laughed. She patted the mattress next to her and their sleepy friend padded over.

"How you doing?" Jill asked as she climbed on the bed. She caught sight of Kelly's eyes, red and glistening with tears, and in an attempt to lighten what she sensed to be a heavy mood, she feigned outrage and gave Sabrina a shove. "What did you do to her? Did you threaten to cook her something?"

Sabrina laughed, but Kelly managed only an uneasy smile. Sensing her discomfort, Jill cast a quick glance at Sabrina, studying her features for some insight. It was apparent the two had been talking awhile, and judging from Sabrina's face and the lack of raised voices, the conversation had been productive. Encouraged, she crawled a little closer and gave Kelly's knee a supportive pat. "So, really-" Jill asked softly. "You ok?"

Kelly's lips curved into another half smile. "I will be." she whispered. Her answer was good enough for the moment and Jill smiled, climbed over Sabrina's legs, and caught Kelly off guard with a tight hug.

"Jill?" Kelly started quietly. She had to do this. Jill would have happily let it go, she knew, but that was something she couldn't let her do. "About what happened back at the hotel- I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Jill. I want you to know that. I would never-"

"I know." Jill said easily. She released her and sat back, either unaware of unmindful of the fact that she was sitting on Sabrina's knee. "I'm sorry too." She watched Kelly uncomfortably lower her eyes, but that was ok. Their accustomed ease in each other's presence would return, the guilt would fade, the shame would fade, and hopefully the memories of this unpleasant week would grow fainter and fainter as days and weeks separated them from it. As long as their friendship was intact, nothing else mattered.

"So, we're ok now?" Jill asked, flitting her eyes from Sabrina to Kelly's face.

Kelly nodded faintly, finally raising her eyes. "We're ok." she said softly.

"We're ok." Sabrina agreed.

Jill smiled and rolled off of Sabrina's leg. "Good." she said brightly. "Now that the pillow talk is over, can we please get breakfast started, because I don't know about you but I'm starving."

As she spoke, she hopped off of Kelly's bed, grabbed her two friends by hand and led them out of the room and towards the kitchen. Kelly wasn't giggling like Sabrina, she was wiping her eyes as she walked, but she wasn't pulling away and to Jill, that was a damn good start. Kelly had a long way to go, she'd be kidding herself if she thought otherwise, but they'd help her. Her and Sabrina. And maybe a few bottles of wine could lend a hand.

And soon this would all be in the past.

* * *

"Well, finally. I was starting to think you three would never get here."

His words weren't welcoming, but his tone and smile were. Jill, Sabrina, and Kelly crossed the room, looking rested and refreshed and took turns giving Bosley a big "I missed you" hug.

"So-" Bosley started, after Jill had untangled her arms from around his neck and bounded over to the couch. "-I take it you three have a good reason for being back?" He shot them a teasing look. "Besides, your plans for the Fourth, that is." Amused by himself, he chuckled happily as he looked between all three girls. And just as they knew he would, his amusement turned into confusion.

"What happened?" Bosley asked, gesturing towards Jill and Kelly's hands. "Did you two fight over the last slice of pizza or something?"

"Something." Jill answered with a grin. She laughed easily at his joke, but though she'd reassured her several times, Kelly still looked nervous and uncomfortable.

But Jill's misdirection was apparently enough. "Uh huh." Bosley responded, still staring. Thankfully though, he let it go. "So, why home so soon?"

"You know, Bos, it's good to know when to quit." Sabrina answered from behind the bar, where she'd immediately busied herself pouring drinks for everyone, making sure Kelly's was a double. The neck of the Scotch bottle clattered reluctantly around the rim of Kelly's glass, still bubbling out the dark liquid as Sabrina briefly considered pouring her a triple. But, she pulled it away. Kelly was tough, she could get through this.

Bosley noticed the lingering pour but assumed it was for her. He raised an eyebrow, let himself flop into his highback chair with a squeak of leather, and lazily rested a foot on the surface of his big, and for the moment, uncluttered, desk. "Oh? And how, pray tell, did you know it was time to quit?"

Sabrina would have answered, but the phone chose that moment to ring and she found herself surprisingly relieved. And why shouldn't she be? The sooner this got started, the sooner it would be over with and the sooner things could get back to normal. Bosley snatched it up immediately.

"Hi, Charlie. All present and- well, early for once." he answered cheerfully. He clicked on the squawk box and replaced the phone in it's cradle.

"Good afternoon, angels." Charlie's warm, resonant baritone greeted them. There was something in his normally pleasant tone, though, that put everyone on edge. Was it confusion? Frustration? Concern? Whatever it was, it wasn't normal.

"Good afternoon, Charlie." the girls chorused back hesitantly.

Charlie wasted no time in getting down to business. "Angels, I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I spoke to Candace Hanover last night and she informed me that the three of you had taken yourselves off of her case."

Sabrina waited until Bosley took his drink off of her loaded tray before hurrying over to her friends, sharing a quick, unreadable glance with Jill as she settled herself on the couch. Between them, Kelly, drained half the contents of her glass in two big swallows, gave a shudder, and then stared numbly at her feet.

"Well, Charlie-" Jill started lightly. "-we had planned to tell you this morning, but we got beat to it. Can you ever forgive us?"

"I can indeed, Jill. But, I was hoping maybe you could explain your reasoning better than Candace Hanover did."

Jill flashed a dazzling, confident smile. "Oh, I bet we could, Charlie. Every piece of evidence we found only seemed to lead to an easier conviction. After a few days it felt like we were playing for the other team."

"She told me you three honestly believed her husband was guilty."

"He was guilty, Charlie." Jill replied earnestly. "Guilty as they come. I told her we weren't about to work for a murderer. That's what you always say, isn't it, Charlie? We don't work for criminals."

Charlie paused, for the first time in their presence, genuinely speechless. He recovered after a beat or two, beginning with a chuckle. "I do say that, Jill. Tell me, what was this evidence you found?"

Sabrina turned to Jill, the same question posed in her raised eyebrow as was in Bosley's and probably, though it would remain unseen, Charlie's as well. Beside her, Kelly gulped her drink down to the two, clinking, barely melted ice cubes and set it aside. She honestly had no idea what Jill was about to say. In fact, Jill was the only one that knew what Jill was about to say. Last night and, now that she thought about it, since she'd returned with a bruised right hand from her meeting with Candace Hanover, Jill had been acting strangely, restless, fired up about whatever had happened. So fired up she'd allegedly caught her hand in the car door, which Sabrina believed just as much as she did in Hanover's innocence. But even when Kelly had gone to bed and the two were alone, Jill hadn't changed her story or elaborated on what happened at the Hanover's home any farther than a shrug and a simple "I handled it."

Sabrina found herself just as eager as Charlie and Bosley to hear what Jill had to say. Kelly, on the other hand, was too nervous to worry about anything. She lifted her empty glass to her lips and Sabrina gently plucked it from her hand to help her save face. Three pairs of eyes and four pairs of ears were now entirely focused on Jill.

"Do you want a list, Charlie?"Jill asked innocently. "First of all, his story had more holes than a pound of Swiss cheese." She paused, took a casual sip of her drink and then gave a contemptuous little laugh. "But, we scoured the entire city anyway and wouldn't you know it, we couldn't find an alibi for the guy. Secondly, several people Sabrina talked to overheard him threaten the girl. Ugly threats too, Charlie." She took another sip and shot Sabrina a look that swiveled the spotlight and sent it glaring into her eyes.

"That's right, Charlie." Sabrina piped up. "They didn't exactly paint a pretty picture."

"I see." Charlie said slowly. "Is there more?"

"We wouldn't be back here unless there was more." Jill said easily. Whether she was trying to sound as disdainful as possible toward their ex-client or if she actually felt that way, Sabrina wasn't sure. But her argument was definitely validating their decision.

"I talked to a few of Becky's classmates. They mentioned seeing bruises on her while they changed for gym, said she never mentioned her foster parents, almost like she was afraid of them. No one had been to her house, no one had met them, not kids, not teachers, nobody. You have to admit Charlie, it sounds pretty fishy. And what's more, Becky was so unhappy that she decided to run away upstate to where she thought her birth mother lived. Well, I looked her up and the woman has been dead since '74. No kid would run off on a long shot to a parent they had never met unless things were really bad at home. Becky Saunders was so desperate that's exactly what she planned to do before she died. Do you see the picture I'm painting, Charlie?"

"I'm starting to, Jill." Charlie replied slowly, thoughtfully.

"So, why hire detectives if the man is guilty?" Bosley chimed in, looking an odd mixture of surprised and confused. "Why not save the money for a good lawyer?"

"That's just it, Bos." Sabrina continued. "His wife is the one that hired us and I really think she believed he was innocent."

Jill scoffed. "Of murder, anyway. I think she knew about everything else."

The group, save Kelly, murmured in assent.

"Well, they do say love is blind." Bosley shrugged and took the first sip of his drink. His eyes popped open as soon as the liquor touched his tongue. "Strong!" he mouthed at Sabrina.

Sabrina only smiled and looked away. "Even to murder." she added quietly.

"Well, angels-" Charlie said, after another beat of thoughtful silence. "-they were pointed in our direction by a very reliable source, otherwise I wouldn't have wasted company time. I'm sorry to have dragged you out of your vacation to aid a guilty man. My source was adament that James Hanover wasn't the violent type."

"Doesn't surprise me, Charlie." Kelly spoke up softly, her eyes lowered, her empty, sweating glass, gliding back and forth between her two hands. "This is the kind of thing that goes on behind closed doors. Alot of time everyone else is kept in the dark until something like this happens." She nervously scratched at her cheek, already flushed with alcohol. "And by the time anyone finds out, it's too late."

It was the first time she'd spoken since arriving and Sabrina and Jill's surprised expression didn't go unnoticed by Bosley. He narrowed his eyes at the three of them, sitting in a row on the couch, looking for every bit like three little conspirators, three young women that knew something he didn't. Something wasn't right, hadn't been right since the moment they'd come in. Jill was cool, too cool in fact. Sabrina seemed to be depending on her for answers like the kid who'd arrived at study group without notes or a book. And Kelly? Kelly had just slugged down, if it had been anything like his, a very generous shot of whiskey without giving the ice a chance to melt. No, something wasn't right. Jill suddenly caught him staring and flashed him what was probably her most winning smile.

"His wife seemed...troubled, angels." Charlie said slowly, a detectable note of suspicion in his voice. Bosley caught the strange look that flashed over Sabrina's, but not either Kelly or Jill's faces. "She asks me to send her apologies for wasting your time."

Jill scoffed. "Well, she should. The only thing we could do for her is not testify in court."

"But, if the police want us to-"Sabrina added quickly. "I'd be more than happy to do it."

Bosley glanced at the squawk box, as if attempting to give Charlie a look. Though he couldn't see him, his employer's silence told him that the nagging feeling of suspicion was tugging on Charlie's sleeve as well. They knew how this had started and how it had been resolved, but nothing in between, as if someone had ripped out the middle section of a book.

"Thank you, Sabrina." Charlie responded, caught off guard by her enthusiasm. "Mrs. Hanover said she'd hope for the best during the trial. But, I'll inform the Carson City Police Department. I want to see a child's murderer walk free just as much as you do, angels."

Sabrina grinned. "My pleasure, Charlie."

The room fell into an awkward silence, the only sound in the group coming from the clinking in Kelly's glass as she made yet another attempt at drinking ice. Bosley continued studying all three of his female coworkers as if trying to figure out a puzzle.

"Well-" Charlie said cheerfully, and Kelly could have kissed him for breaking the silence. "-then we mark this case as a bust and I send you on your way. Any plans for the Fourth, angels? Bosley?"

The three girls shared a look and smiled faintly. Again, Bosley watched them. Was that relief written in their faces? It was. Almost as if they'd been holding their breaths. They were relieved this discussion was over, like three kids who'd gotten away with lying to their principal.

"Oh, you know, just a get together. Maybe grill some burgers, watch the fireworks." Sabrina answered casually. "Maybe set a couple off ourselves."

"You kids and your fireworks." Bosley sighed, rolling his eyes haughtily. "I, unlike you three hoodlums, plan to be an upstanding citizen and watch the Bob Hope special."

Sabrina laughed. "Even if we offered you a burger, Bos?"

He regarded her question with a feigned air of suspicion. "That depends. Who's doing the grilling?"

As they laughed, Jill hopped forward in her seat, a flirty grin that Charlie had no way of seeing spreading across her face. "There'll be plenty to go around, Charlie. If you want to visit too, you know..." She let the invitation hang in hopes of a response.

But, Charlie only chuckled his deep, rumbling chuckle. "Thank you for the invite, angel, but I have plans with a few friends. I'll be having...fireworks of my own, you could say."

"Oh."Jill purred. "Well, that's the spirit of '76."

Even Kelly giggled at their exchange.

"Yeah, well. I guess there's safety in numbers, huh Charlie?" Sabrina laughed.

"Indeed there is." Charlie answered her. "Well, better luck next time, angels. Enjoy the Fourth and try not to have too much fun. I would think the three of you would work much better with all ten fingers."

Bosley groaned and the three girls shared another laugh.

"I'll be in touch. Goodbye, angels."

"Goodbye, Charlie!" came their chorus.

The three girls rose from their seats, milled about a few minutes longer, putting away drinks, teasing Bosley and straightening up, before finally leaving the office, that same relief making them lighthearted, almost giddy. Bosley lingered on after he'd finally shooed them out. When their footsteps and voices could be heard no longer and the loudest noise in the office was the faint hum of the air conditioner, he wandered back to his desk and quietly sat back down.

"John?" came Charlie's voice, crackling from the squawk box which he'd never disconnected.

"Charles?"

"Do you get the feeling that the angels know something we don't?"

Chuckling to himself, Bosley leaned over to the window and carefully pulled the Venetian blind downward a few inches, granting his vision access to the curbside. He watched Kelly's yellow mustang, piloted for some reason by Jill, pull out onto the street and disappear from his view.

"All the time, sir." he answered with a shake of his head. "All the time."

* * *

Sabrina yawned and let her head thump against the back of Kelly's couch. It had been a relaxing evening for everyone, Kelly included. She'd still been awkward and uncomfortable, even after the mostly successful meeting with Charlie, but over the course of a Jill-cooked dinner and some wine, she'd finally mellowed out and the three of them had enjoyed some time together, talking, laughing, and watching television.

And now it was late. All of Jill's spaghetti and most of the wine was gone, the dishes were washed, the kitchen was cleaned, and three quarters of the late movie had already played. Sabrina rubbed her tired eyes and glanced over her pile of blankets to where Jill was sitting next to her, eyes open and apparently wide awake. She was leafing through the T.V. Guide using Kelly, who over the course of the night had gradually transitioned from sitting upright on the couch to flopping over in her lap, her body weighted down by nearly an entire bottle of wine, as a human desk.

"Your will to live is stronger than mine." Sabrina giggled quietly. "I can barely stay awake."

"Oh, me neither." Jill answered, though her voice was as bubbly and perky as usual. She continued flipping pages. "Hey, there might be something good after this. Do you like zombie movies?"

Sabrina rolled her eyes, choosing to ignore the question. "Is Kelly asleep?"

"If she's not, she's in a coma." Jill laughed. She took the T.V. Guide and lightly swatted Kelly's head with it. Predictably, there was no response. "Yeah, she's out cold."

"Good." Sabrina whispered. She cleared her throat and waited patiently for Jill to start filling in some blanks. All day she had been asking and all day Jill had answered with a discreet head nod at Kelly and a mouthed "Later!". Well, now was later and she was out of patience. A few more seconds ticked by, the opportunity to talk so blatantly obvious that she was mildly irritated that Jill didnt' seem to realize.

She cleared her throat again. "Well?" she asked impatiently.

Jill didn't even look up. "Well, what?"

"Well, what did you do?"

The question changed the expression on Jill's face but not the direction she was looking. "What did I do?" she asked in confusion. "I turned the page, Bri. I've done it a hundred times. You don't pay attention to me."

Sabrina sighed loudly. "I mean yesterday. To Candace Hanover. What did you do to wrap this up so neatly?"

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that. What did you say to her?"

Jill yawned for a ridiculous amount of time and Sabrina knew she was being toyed with.

"Oh, come on, Jill!" she urged, yanking the T.V. Guide from her hand. "Cut it out!"

Jill only giggled. "Ok, fine. But first, could you change it to ABC for me, please? I'd get up myself but..." She gestured helplessly to the pile of blankets and the sleeping Kelly in her lap.

"You are impossible." Sabrina grumbled. But, she uprooted herself from her comfortable nest and did as she was asked. "Ok, now tell me." she said, the second she was back on the couch.

Jill grinned at her. "Thanks, Bri. Oh, but I can barely hear it."

"Jill!"

"Ok, fine." Jill relented. She glanced back down at Kelly and though it was obvious their friend wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, snapped her fingers twice in her face. Kelly whimpered softly, but had no more objection than that. Finally, satisifed that Sabrina was the only member of her audience, Jill grinned and motioned her closer.

"It was just like I told Charlie." she whispered, plucking the T.V. Guide out of Sabrina's hands. "I went over, told her about all the things we'd heard and how bad it looked."

To Sabrina's annoyance, Jill didn't elaborate. "And?-" she pressed.

"And she got really upset. I thought she was gonna take a swing at me. So I told her hitting me wasn't going to help. But, that didn't calm her down either." She paused and laughed. "You know, I think she really hates me, Bri."

"I know. So, what did you do."

The lightheartedness suddenly vanished from Jill's blue eyes, like a candle snuffed by a gust of cold wind. "I told her we knew about Kelly. And that we...didn't agree with it. And I also told her that Becky had written down every instance of abuse in her diary to the most minute, graphic detail. And that if she or her husband tried to bother Kelly over some silly tape that didn't exist, that I'd be more than happy to toss the diary to the police and grant them an open-" She slapped closed the book in her hand with a loud pop. "-and shut case."

Sabrina's eyes widened in surprise. "Whoa-" she muttered, when she found her voice. "That- that's good. But, that's not what's in-"

"She doesn't know that. She bought my bluff. She's not going to say anything about that tape. Besides, I told her how much lawyers tolerate fairy tale evidence."

"Well, I-I'm glad you handled it." Sabrina whispered.

"Kelly's been handling too much." Jill said quietly. "It's about time someone handled something for her."

Sabrina nodded and glanced down to where Kelly was sleeping. Jill's right hand was in her vision as well, bruised and swollen almost as bad as Kelly's was, a reminder that there were blanks yet to be filled. Jill had been wired when she'd returned fom the Hanover's home, she remembered, intense and almost crazed like she'd never seen her. Asking this question filled her with dread.

"You- you didn't beat her up did you?"

Jill laughed, the coldness immediately gone from her demeanor. "No, Bri. I didn't beat her up. Don't be stupid." She propped an elbow up on Kelly and resumed her T.V. Guide surfing.

Sabrina wasn't so easily dismissed.

"So, you hit her then?"

"Oh, Bri."

"Then what happened to your hand?"

Jill regarded her question with no more than a flippant smile.

"I told you. I caught it in the car door."

"Right. The car." Sabrina narrowed her eyes at her, waiting her out, hoping she'd reveal the truth. But, Jill was absorbed in her book, unaware of her stare. After watching her turn a few pages, Sabrina gave up and flopped back into her previous lounging position, settling herself for the duration of the movie.

"Oh, hey-" Jill piped up, the moment Sabrina looked comfortable. "Will you get me some water?" she asked innocently. "I would get it myself but..."

Despite herself, Sabrina started to laugh. "I guess you deserve that much." she teased, swatting Jill with her pillow as she got up. She shuffled away into the kitchen, stretching and yawning as she walked.

Jill, still grinning in satisfaction, turned her attention back to her book, absently taking the opportunity of Sabrina's temporary absence to stretch out her injured hand. Though she'd refused to show it, her knuckles were throbbing. She'd acted impulsively, she knew. But, for once, she was glad and if she had it to do over again, she'd still be sitting here with a busted hand. Some things were just worth it.

She heard Sabrina shut the freezer door and shook out her hand one last time. Her knuckles were swollen and discolored, but she smiled at them like a proud mother. Grinning in satisfaction, she fondly used her hurt hand to smooth back Kelly's soft, brown hair.

"You're welcome."


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

_"When you're done settling in, come on down for some dinner, alright, honey?"_

_Kelly looked up to see Mrs. Turner's kind, chubby face smiling at her from the doorway. She must have flinched at the sound of her voice, or looked startled, she realized, because the older woman raised a calming hand and took a step back._

_"It's ok, just whenever you're ready." she said quickly. "Take your time."_

_Kelly forced a smile. "Yes, ma'am. Thank you."_

_She bit her lip and refocused her attention on the old, faded duffel bag she'd just set on her bed, cased within it's light blue fabric, everything she owned in the world. There'd been more, she knew, but she'd left it at the Hanover's house. A insignificantly small price to pay to escape the horror though, and she hadn't bothered mentioning it. It simply wasn't worth it._

_And now, three weeks later, here she was. Plucked from the streets and temporarily housed with a foster family until her impending trial, which she and her guardians had been told would more likely than not result in a school year in a juvenile detention center in California._

_That too, was a small price to pay._

_For now, things were infinitely better. She'd only just been dropped off, but she could tell the couple she'd been placed with were genuinely nice, which made her first night here a relief. She wouldn't be here long enough to settle, but after the constant driving around, shuffling through random houses and shelters, finally she'd arrived at what would be her stop for the next two weeks. __She quietly pulled some clothes out of her bag and set them down on the new looking bedspread. This wasn't by any means her new home, but knowing she'd be sleeping in this bed for more than a few nights was an enormous relief. And she couldn't wait to sleep, she felt so tired, more tired than she'd ever felt before._

_A slight rustling from behind her had Kelly turning around again. Mrs. Turner had never left the doorway. Kelly immediately turned away and resumed unpacking, feeling awkward and exposed and not exactly knowing why._

_"Are you alright?"_

_Kelly nodded her head and began quickly pulling out clothes, a pair of shoes, and Lillybet, scattering them carelessly on her bedspread. Nervous under the woman's gaze, Kelly immediately smoothed out the sheets, as if wrinkling it would get her punished, and then, on a whim, sat Lillybet up on her pillow. Soft footsteps approached her, and not knowing how to react, Kelly froze._

_"You know, sweetheart-" the woman said softly, placing a warm hand on her shoulder. "-everything's gonna be ok now."_

_Her voice was so kind, so sweet, so safe that Kelly was suddenly caught off guard by the sting of unexpected tears in her eyes. Not trusting herself to answer, she simply nodded her head._

_The nice old woman smiled and pulled her into a sideways hug. "And once this whole thing blows over, it's going to get a lot better for you. You'll see, Kelly."_

_Kelly bit her lip, but was too focused on keeping composure to answer. Fortunately, Mrs. Turner didn't angrily demand one from her like she'd grown accustomed to. Instead, to her relief, the old woman ran a comforting hand along Kelly's hair. "You trust an old lady, don't you?"_

_Finally, Kelly forced a thin, tight lipped smile and nodded her head._

_"Good." the old woman said brightly. She gave Kelly's shoulders a squeeze and patted her back before releasing her. "You look hungry. Why don't I go fix you a plate right now and you can finish unpacking after you eat? How's that?"_

_Kelly nodded again._

_"Ok, we'll be waiting in the kitchen when you're ready."_

_With one last friendly smile, the old woman left the room, leaving Kelly standing awkwardly by her bed. The girl took a deep breath and frantically swiped at her eyes. Only a few tears had managed to leak out and she quickly erased all evidence of them with the sleeve of her shirt. They'd been trying to escape since leaving the Hanover's house, but she'd constantly denied them and, right now, the urge was stronger than it had ever been before. Maybe later tonight, when she was alone and had a few hours to herself, but not right now._

_Kelly lifted her head. From the kitchen, she could already hear the familiar tinkling and bustling of dinner being set on the table. Dinner she wasn't afraid of being denied. Because that was in the past now. No more yelling, no more hitting, no more Hanovers. She was free. She'd escaped them and they were gone. Truly gone._

_Wherever life took her next didn't matter, she'd take it in stride. Because anywhere had to be better than that place. Mrs. Lassetter was right. Things would get better. Kelly wiped at her eyes one last time and, satisfied that they wouldn't betray her, hurried into the kitchen, feeling better than she had in a long time._

_As unbelievable as it seemed, the Hanovers were gone._

_And for the first time in nearly a year, she felt like she could breathe again._

* * *

"Kelly!"

Jill's loud shout dragged Kelly away from her daydream and back into the present. She'd just eaten a plate full of potato salad and barbeque, courtesy of Sabrina's portable camping grill and was stretched out languidly on a beach chair, sleepy with alcohol, awaiting the Bicentennial fireworks display and enjoying the warm night air.

"Hey! What are you, asleep? You can't fall asleep yet!"

Kelly opened her eyes just in time to be roughly shaken by a pair of hands. She laughed and lazily pushed Jill away.

"I was enjoying a peaceful moment." she giggled, fending off another attempt at shoving her out of her chair. But Jill was relentless, and with a shriek, the lawn chair toppled over, spilling both girls to the soft grass of the hillside they'd perched themselves on. They wrestled playfully in the grass a few moments longer, before Jill bounced to her feet and ran, shrieking, behind Sabrina's chair, disturbing the story she'd been sharing with Kris.

"You two are acting like little kids." Sabrina scolded playfully, raising her sunglasses to her forehead.

Jill, still laughing, jerked Sabrina's chair around to dodge Kelly's attempt to get a hold of her. "It's her fault! Make her stop!"

"What? You started it!" Kelly protested. She lunged again, Jill zigged when she should have zagged, and Kelly immediately latched onto her and yanked her off balance, sending her sprawling across Sabrina's lap.

"God! You two!" Sabrina laughed, shoving Jill off of her. Jill rolled to the floor and the four girls continued giggling merrily while she climbed to her feet and dusted herself off.

"When do the fireworks start?" Kris asked anxiously, craning her neck to see over the rise in the terrain.

Jill righted Kelly's chair and plopped herself down on it, still panting. "Not sure. It'll get dark in about half an hour. They should start soon after that."

"And let me guess. Afterwards, the rest of your little party starts?" Sabrina sighed, catching Kelly's eye and winking. Kris had arrived the night before, bringing her father's junky old pickup truck, which had proved useful in hauling the grill, the chairs, and a bagged arsenal of the fireworks Jill and Kelly had purchased the previous week. Her hopes that Kris would be as logical as her about the dangerous explosives were dashed the second the younger Munroe saw them and squealed in delight. She was alone in this.

Jill shrugged. "The second the last firework finishes." She smiled and reached over Kelly to give her sister a shove. "Then we're gonna show them how the Munroes do it."

"And the Garrett." Kelly added, taking a seat next to Sabrina.

Sabrina rolled her eyes gamely. "The Duncan will watch." she chuckled.

"Well-" Jill said haughtily, splashing her hand into the mostly melted ice water of their cooler. "We'll see about that. We drank most everything but the soda. Hey, anyone want another soda. Kell? You look like you could use a root beer."

Kelly laughed and settled back in her chair. "Sure. I've had so many today, I don't think one more will hurt."

Jill giggled and pulled the tab for her before handing her the cold can. "That's the spirit of 76'."

She laughed when Kelly rolled her eyes before taking a sip and relaxing back in her chair.

"I remember last Fourth of July." Kris started eagerly, still staring off in hopes of a show. "Everyone just kept talking about how next year would be so much better." She dug into the cooler and pulled up yet another soda. "Oh, I bet it will be. You think with the Bicentennial, they'll put more effort into the firework show?"

"They better." Sabrina chuckled, sharing a discreet laugh with Jill. Kris was so excited and the ludicrous amount of sugar she'd consumed that day wasn't helping. "They don't get another shot for hundred years, you know."

Jill laughed and settled herself back in her chair. "Well, they won't be the ones getting the chance for the Tricenntenial." She paused for a moment. "It would be Tricenntenial wouldn't it? Tricycle, tripod, triceratops? Tri means three, doesn't it?" she wondered aloud.

"Sounds about right." Kelly answered through a yawn. "And if it's not, who cares? Let them try again. Not our problem."

Her answer had the four girls giggling and shaking their heads, but Jill was too happy to care. She leaned over, fished around in the nearly empty cooler of ice water and pulled out another drink. This had been a good day. Her little sister was back from the academy for the holiday, they had the next few days off to recuperate, and Kelly was looking more relaxed than she'd seen her in a long time.

She glanced at her friend and smiled. Kelly looked as serene as could be, laying back in her chair, her cheekbones slightly reddened from sunburn, like all of them, tanned, full, and content after a day long outing.

Jill smiled at her then turned around to catch Sabrina's eye. The two glanced at Kelly and then back at each other. They didn't have to say anything.

Everything was going to be alright.

The four girls continued chatting and the next forty five minutes blew by in between the jokes, the stories, the teasing, and Kris's hysterical impersonation of her least favorite sergeant. By this time the sky, already decorated in streaks of orange and pink by the time they'd settled down, had shifted from the deep, dark purple of twilight to the definite black of night, reavealing bright, twinkling stars not easily seen from the city limits. It took the far off whistle of the first firework of the night to pull the girls' attention to the sky.

"Oh look!" Kris cried out in delight.

Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina's head turned in the direction their friend was pointing. All four girls murmured their awe when the whistling projectile suddenly exploding with a loud, satisfying pop and red, white, and blue streaks of fire blazed across the backdrop of the night sky. Another followed soon after, and another and another until the night was alive with colored fire. The girls stopped talking, their eyes fixed on the sky, their mouths hanging slightly open in appreciative wonder of the spectacle.

And like Kris had hoped, the show didn't disappoint. The girls watched in mezmerized silence, their faces alternately bathed in the different colors of light, the whines and pops of rockets, and the far off but energizing strains of John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" wafting to them from the huge band they'd seen setting up earlier.

Kelly sat silently, completely absorbed in the show, her right hand clutching her soda bottle that would remain untouched for the next half hour. The show seemed surreal. Everything did. Everything had since they'd come home. But, in a good way. Like a dream she didn't want to wake up from. A particularly dazzling display burst above their heads, eliciting another soft murmur of awe from her friends.

She glanced at them, lined up in their chairs, dressed casually in shorts, sunburned and happy, and smiled. It had been awkward since returning yes, and to some degree it still was, but it was different now. And today was the first day she'd felt good, really good, in a long time. Either from an actual healing inside of her, or the long day driving around the crowded and busy city, buzzing with excitement, passing the stores, all ready for the celebrations, all decorated with flags, red, white, and blue banners, streamers, signs, everything in the city a sea of red, white, and blue. Whichever it was, she felt good. The country was celebrating it's freedom. And in a way, so was she.

For reasons she wasn't sure, she'd felt obligated to keep herself updated on the young man who'd killed Becky Saunders and paid for it with his life, the murderer whose jail sentence James Hanover would hopefully end up serving. It had been a little difficult, what with everything going on, but a little effort and she'd mananged. And as she did, she realized the similiarities between them were unnervingly numerous. A troubled foster kid, just like her. A trouble maker in school, just like her. A loner, a thief, a vandal. The similiarites had spooked her at first. Could she have been a cold blooded murderer too? How had she, with a past just as rocky as his, turned her life around and avoided going down that path? She'd stayed up thinking about it for a few nights, letting it bother her, letting it make her feel ill, until one night, Sabrina, thinking her asleep, popped her head inside the room, checking on her before going to bed.

And then Kelly knew.

Her friends. Her friends grounded her, kept her sane, let her know there was another path in life, gave her the loving family she'd been searching for the past twenty years and just like that, she was no longer alone in the world. Would she have made it through the academy without them? Maybe, maybe not. Stayed an officer? Maybe, maybe not. But, it did no good to dwell on that. She had them now, and they'd just proved how loyal they were to her. It had scared her at first, caught her completley off guard, and though she wouldn't ever want them to ever do anything so reckless and stupid for her again, in a way, their actions, once the hysteria had settled, made her feel good, loved. She was lucky. Damn lucky. She was suddenly flooded with a warm, surge of affection for her friends that was so strong it almost brought tears to her eyes. But, now wasn't time for that. She blinked them away and cast a fond, grateful smile over them before focusing on the sky. The fireworks continued, the music giving way to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as the fireworks and rockets intensified for the grande finale. The girls sat, breathless with wonder, none of them so much as moving until the sky cleared.

"Oh my God." Kris breathed, as a cheering crowd erupted from the distance, signifying the end of the show. "I refuse to die before 2076. I want to see this kind of thing again."

"Me too." Sabrina agreed quietly, as if still in a trance. The girls sat hypnotized and watched the haze of smoke settle across the sky, the smoke and faint smell of sulphur all that remained of the Bicentennial show. A booming voice shouted into a microphone, the crowd cheered again and the band picked up, filling the air with muffled singing and heavy drumbeats.

The four girls sat quietly for a few more moments, relishing the peace and quiet after such an amazing display. But, a few moments was all Jill could wait. Before anyone else was ready, she popped out of her chair and hopped up and down excitedly in front of her sister and two friends.

"Ok, ok, ok!" she cried. "Now it's our turn!"

Sabrina groaned. "Aw, Jill. Not just yet, can't we wait awhile? I like this so-"

Her whining was interupted by Kris and Kelly's whoops of joy and as Sabrina watched in gape mouthed horror, they bounded past Jill and towards the truck, the three for some reason feeling the need to engage in a giggling, shoving foot race for the twenty foot distance that separated them from their weapons.

Sabrina fell back in defeat. "Can't we just- Jill, don't you want to eat more? Kris, there's one more root beer in here for you!"

Her pleading fell on deaf ears. The girls, still giggling and pushing like children, hefted their stash from the bed of the pickup and hauled it back towards Sabrina.

"Looky what we got, Bri." Jill sang teasingly. "I think you should set off the first one."

Sabrina paled. "No, how about-" Her brown eyes fell on Kris. "-Kris!" she shouted excitedly. "Kris should have the honors! She's the one that brought the truck!"

The girls laughed and with a few nods and shrugs, it was unanimously decided that Kris would indeed have the honor bestowed upon her.

"Fine." Kris laughed. "But, you're going second, Bri." Sabrina solemnly nodded her head and Kris laughed again and scanned the treasures her sister and Kelly had just spread out on the grass. "Ok, we have to start small, don't we? Which one, which one.."

Sabrina, Jill, and Kelly's heads shot up. They exchanged a quick glance and smiled.

"Oh, the orange one. With the blue and white wrapper." they said simultaneously, pointing it out.

Kelly rolled it over to her and Kris eagerly grabbed it up, eyeing it like a fisherman who'd caught something he'd have throw back. "We'll just work our way up then." Kris said with a grin. She didn't notice her companions backing up several feet.

"Absolutely." Jill called. "Start small. Throw it over there."

The three girls, fighting snickers, shared another look and took a step backwards as Kris fumbled with her lighter.

"Think you'll be able to handle all this excitement?" Jill whispered to Sabrina and Kelly, then dissolved into a fit of repressed giggles.

Kelly grinned. She could. She definitely could.

With her friends around, she could handle anything.

* * *

_**And that's (finally) it! I know that took forever, but thank ya'll for reading, reviewing, and mostly just sticking with me!**_

_**- kp**_


End file.
